Joe O'Reilly (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)

I support the legislation which essentially gives effect to a second bailout for Greece. I do so in solidarity with the Greek people and our euro partners. It is important that we do that while recognising the suffering of the Greek people. This measure will facilitate €130 million additional funds being made available to Greece, it will allow for the Greek private sector to take a 53.5% write down of its debt, a longer grace period of up to ten years for paying back the loan principal and a lengthening of the maturities of the loans to 15 years. It will mean the interest we will receive from Greece will be reduced by €5.2 million annually but this is not significant in terms of this exercise in solidarity.

It must be borne in mind that we benefited from a €9 billion reduction in our debt through the reduction of interest rates. It is in the context of that reduction and the saving of the €9 billion that I pay a warm tribute to the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, for the way he has built up confidence in this country among our euro partners within the enlarged EU and at an international level generally, which will have implications for inward investment. That €9 billion saving is a derivative from that confidence building. Similarly other benefits will accrue from it. I wish him and the people around him well in the renegotiation of the promissory notes in terms of the implementation of the payment patterns.

I could not adequately endorse the words of my colleague, Deputy Phelan, regarding the hypocrisy of Fianna Fáil on this issue and its failure to publicly admit on each occasion its members speak that the entire issue has its origins in its profligacy, mismanagement and viewing of the national finances as an election slush fund.

We should note the suffering of the Greek people. Rather than engage in triumphalistic talk about us thankfully being in a better position than Greece, we should acknowledge the pain they have gone through and the huge sacrifices they have been making. I had the privilege of meeting Greek parliamentarians through my membership of the Council of Europe and I have anecdotal evidence to support that but they have suffered a great deal. It is an arguable thesis that they may not have been as fit or as well prepared initially as other countries for entry into the eurozone, and they did have structural difficulties but that makes their achievements and the pain they are enduring all the greater. It is in that spirit we should address the issues.

We should not only pass this Bill before the House but endorse with enthusiasm the fiscal compact treaty and the referendum thereon. It is very important that we do that. Our membership of and access to the European Stability Mechanism will act as a safety valve for us. We do not aspire to a further bailout, which we are hoping to avoid, but the ESM will act as a security net for us in that it will make it easier for us to borrow on the open markets in the future because of the realisation that we have a fall-back position. It will also facilitate and provide confidence for inward investment. Were we not to pass the referendum we would not be as attractive as a window into Europe or as an English-speaking country into the eurozone. It is important that we support it from that perspective and from the perspective of organising an effective job stimulus which is allowed within the fiscal compact treaty, despite Opposition attempts to portray it as an austerity measure. It will bring only best budgetary practice into place. It will allow expenditure. We will not be affected by its terms while we remain under the EU-IMF programme, but it will allow expenditure for job creation projects and constructive economic activity.

I endorse the legislation. I believe it is another sign of us, as a mature Parliament, taking our place within the eurozone. I think we will go from strength to strength and all the indications are that we will do so.

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