Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)

The introduction of the European Stability Mechanism will safeguard stability in the eurozone while assisting us in calming the crisis. The fact that implementation has been brought forward by a year to July, along with the agreement for the fiscal treaty, has begun to have that effect. That is quite clear, as I have outlined.

It is inconceivable that Sinn Féin could think ratification of the ESM is not in our interest. It is in our interest even more than most other European countries. The ESM, like the fiscal stability treaty, is only part of the solution. No one is pretending that any single element of this is a solution in its own right. Together, all of these elements are vital to solving the eurozone crisis and to reinjecting stability into both the eurozone and the Irish economy. There is no magic bullet but these measures are yielding positive results.

I would like to quote a report on Bloomberg News that appeared at 4.30 this evening:

Europe's comeback from the brink is extending to the region's corporate debt market, where borrowers are selling bonds at the fastest pace in two years [...] The European Central Bank's injection of cash into banks through loans and Greece's debt restructuring is raising optimism that the region's sovereign crisis will be contained. The cost to borrow for European non-financial companies has fallen at a faster rate this year than for issuers in the US, Bank of America Merrill Lynch data show [...] "While Europe still faces many obvious challenges, there has been a combined regulatory and political response to euro area problems," [said a strategist from] Royal Bank of Scotland ... [The strategist further said] "The follow-on risk appetite has been reflected in robust new issuance."

That is a clear response to the fast-tracking of the introduction of the ESM and to the fiscal compact.

There is a new decisiveness in the air among European leaders, something that had been worryingly absent. I was one of the many who had commented on it. There is now a willingness, joint effort and resolve among European leaders to save the euro, which clearly is in this country's interests, which is backed up by strong action.

The European Union is turning its focus to growth, but we must be honest that growth cannot be achieved without confidence and stability in the market and across the eurozone. Anyone who talks about growth in a vacuum is misleading and pretending that there are simple solutions. We must restore confidence and stability to the market in order to foster the environment we need to see growth within the eurozone. That is the Government's objective, on which we are delivering.

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