Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour)

I thank Deputy Hannigan for sharing his time with me. I agree with my Government colleagues who have spoken. It must be acknowledged that we are on the way back and we have the choice to get off at the next floor or not. The welfare of the nation is at stake and I would prefer to have some certainty in this regard. Those 447,000 unemployed people would also like to see some growth, some certainty and a future for our country. This is the first time in the history of the State that the IMF is in the country. The gravity of the situation has been lost at times by some politicians and journalists and some sections of the public. This is an opportunity for us to explain the situation and what it means to be left outside in the cold on our own as a peripheral country in Europe.

The people of Ireland will make the ultimate judgment on whether we should join in this fiscal policy. We have a currency but we do not have a fiscal unity and this was the reason I stated publicly before the event that Ireland should never have joined the eurozone. However, we are inside the eurozone now and we have to live with the situation as we find it.

I refer to some outstanding journalism written in the past few days by Arthur Beesley and Dan O'Brien in TheIrish Times. They have written responsible articles about the impact of a "No" vote and the certainty associated with a "Yes" vote. The headline over Arthur Beesley's report states: "His vote may decide if Ireland survives storm or faces catastrophe." It is incumbent upon us as politicians to make an effort not to persuade people to do anything rather to explain the information and to ensure that misinformation does not influence how people cast their vote. I am delighted to note that Fianna Fáil has also supported this fiscal treaty as being the correct option.

Like Deputy Hannigan, I have the proud privilege of being an ambassador for this Government in that I am a member of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. Last week in Vienna, at an economic forum I was given the impression that people were very happy with Ireland's response but they also acknowledged the need for more action to be taken. This treaty is one further step towards resolving the woes of our Continent and our currency but at that forum, every parliamentarian from around Europe and further afield, acknowledged that growth is the way forward. In my view, Ireland will get there if we adopt the right corrective measures and if there is certainty about the future of the currency. We will get people back to work. I advise the opponents of the treaty that the welfare of this country should not be jeopardised for political gain if this is the reason for their opposition. I ask them to hold off until the next election.

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