Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael)

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in this debate. I wish to make four points on this motion and the prospect of the referendum on the European stability treaty.

The first point relates specifically to Article 136, which is referred to in the motion. I ask the people who are making claims against this article to answer an important question. In a few years, when Ireland is out of the current arrangement, our taxpayers' money will be going into a fund that could be used in other countries. Is it not in our interest that conditions be put in place regarding how our money is used elsewhere? Is it not the case that if a fund is set up to which taxpayers' money is contributed, we would want to see that money being used responsibly and properly in other countries? The answer is obviously "Yes" and for that reason it is appropriate that conditions are included. Those conditions will be in our interest at some point in the future.

If one opposes the concept of including such conditions, one is opening up the prospect of Irish taxpayers' money being used in other countries but with Ireland not having a say in how that money is spent or whether it is properly administered. That clause is about ensuring that in any future arrangement where countries seek money, including the external aid programme we are in at present and programmes in which other countries might participate in the future, there are conditions in place regarding how that money is spent. It is exactly the same relationship as that which exists between a borrower and a bank. It is precisely the type of arrangement that should be in place when Irish taxpayers' money is being used in other countries in the future.

My second point relates to the type of prize Sinn Féin claims is on the horizon if this treaty is rejected. The party argues that there will be some theoretical increase in our country's sovereignty if we do not participate in this arrangement. However, what will be the price? How will our citizens thank us for us being able to say we are freer outside this treaty than within it, if the cost is that we are unable to fund the public services on which those citizens depend? That is what the rejection of this treaty would mean. Who would thank any government for saying our independence or autonomy is increased as a result of being outside this arrangement when the price for that increase is that it is unable to access the funding that must be borrowed to fund the public services? How is that a good deal for the people that this or any future Government would seek to represent?

Third, what vista would Ireland face if we are outside this arrangement? It is very clear. We would find ourselves in a situation where we are unable to access the future European stability mechanism or new bailout fund. We also would be priced out of the financial markets. Those markets would look at all the sacrifice our citizens have made over the past four years and ask, "Where is the intent to ensure the mistakes of the past are not repeated in the future?" We would find ourselves outside the financial markets or borrowing from them at a prohibitively expensive rate while not having access to the mechanism that is designed to help countries that cannot get funding in the first place. One has heard the cliche about an individual finding himself or herself between a rock and a hard place. If Ireland were to again find itself in a situation where it is unable to access funding for our public services and there is nobody in the world willing to lend money to us, but we cannot access a programme designed to help countries in such situations, that is a recipe for intensified austerity and losing the country's sovereignty for many years beyond what we are experiencing at present.

The ultimate question which people who oppose this treaty must answer is very simple - from where would they get the money. Where would they get the money to fund our public services and the gap between spending and taxation, given that we would be unable to access a bailout fund and the financial markets would be reluctant to lend us money? The answer is that there is no place where we could get that money, and Sinn Féin knows that is the case.

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