Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Ireland is a good country with a proud people and it will recover. The past three years have tested us, our democracy, our values and our determination, but we have not been found wanting. This is because what the Irish people want is nothing more than their due: to live in a country where they can find decent work, have a home, take care of their family and watch their children grow up in the company of their friends. We are elected to this House as stewards of that birthright, public representatives whose task, above all, is to act in the interest of the Irish people, not only for today or tomorrow but for our children's future as well.

There are differing views in this House about what represents the best interest of those who elected us - that is politics - but there are some facts that simply cannot be denied, or swept aside. Ireland may be an island, but the borders of its trade, currency and workforce stretch across oceans. We are a country that is deeply embedded in the global trading system, exporting 80% of everything we produce, we are a member of a 17 country currency, the eurozone, we are part of a European market of 500 million people, and now we are dependent on international institutions to pay wages and pensions and keep our hospitals, schools and other public services running. Our living standards depend on our reputation as a strong and stable place to do business, and until we can sell Irish Government bonds on the international markets again, our living standards are directly dependent on support from our European partners. Let us be clear about one thing. The euro is our currency. It is the money in our pocket - the money we spend when we have it, the money we save when we can. The health and future of the euro matters personally, to each of us.

As I said at the sub-committee yesterday, in the second half of last year Europe and the euro currency was under massive pressure. We all saw what happened in Greece. We all saw multiple ratings downgrades even amongst previously invincible AAA countries. We all saw global economic powers like Italy under severe pressure. Citizens using the euro wondered "Should I change my money into another currency?", "Are my savings safe?" and other such questions fundamental to any person, family or business. All of this was happening despite good news from some sources, including here in Ireland, where our recovery programme was on track, with growing exports and good news in terms of foreign direct investment.

Late last year, then, it was clear that the euro was under threat and economies were struggling to fund themselves. There was a growing crisis, not just for Europe but on a global scale; a crisis where Ireland, as an open exporting country was very exposed to having its recovery derailed unless something was done at a eurozone and European level. It is often under-estimated how much progress has already been made in addressing the eurozone crisis in terms of early warning systems, much enhanced financial regulation, bank recapitalisation requirements and, overall, the retrofitting of the supporting architecture that should really have been there when the euro was introduced.

Last December and then right through Christmas, the new year and January, Ireland and our fellow European member states sat down to negotiate a new and important part of this toolkit, an agreement with the status and weight of an international treaty which committed 25 states, including all eurozone members, to responsible budgeting and better arrangements on how eurozone countries work together and help each other. It is that deal which we negotiated, called the stability treaty, which I am asking the Irish people to support.

The other crucial tool available is, of course, the firewall in the form of the European Stability Mechanism or ESM, which any country ratifying the stability treaty can have access to. As most Deputies know already, if any country does not ratify the stability treaty, it does not have access to the ESM.

This is a treaty on stability and is about ensuring a stable euro. It is about confidence abroad and maintaining and enhancing the influence we have been rebuilding with investors and our European partners. In particular, for multinational employers, from whom so many announcements have come in recent months, their decisions have been thanks to our renewed political and economic stability and, above all, the determination of the Irish people, despite great sacrifices, to restore Ireland's economic health. As Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I have personally heard directly from these investors and employers around the world. They want to do business in Europe and they are convinced by what Ireland has to offer as a European base. However, they need reassurance that the euro currency is stable and that Ireland's is a stable and well managed economy at the heart of the eurozone.

In very large part, this treaty reiterates and reinforces rules already in place through the revised Stability and Growth Pact and the recent EU legislative package on governance and economic management. Giving these higher legal status helps ensure that everyone, big or small, is bound by the same rules in order to give us a level playing pitch.

The treaty is about managing our debt in such a way that, over time, taxpayers' money goes not into servicing debts but more and more into public services and targeted growth initiatives to create jobs. As a small, open economy, we have seen in dramatic fashion how quickly our public finances can become unstable in the face of global economic turbulence. We cannot allow this to happen again. Even if we were not party to the treaty, as a matter of proper economic management we would have to reduce out indebtedness over time. Those who make claims about the treaty imposing austerity seem to believe we can run a deficit for ever or accumulate debt without limit, but we cannot. That is not a matter of ideology; it is a matter of mathematics. Anyone who says otherwise is not being honest with the people.

This treaty is about having an insurance policy and making sure we have access, if needed, to the ESM funding that allows us to fund those public services and all Government spending. We are determined to return to the financial markets next year and to stand on our own two feet again. We are on target with our programme and sentiment towards Ireland is positive. Yet, we cannot control world events and the world economy. Markets need to know there is a backup in the form of the European Stability Mechanism and we can only access that if we ratify this treaty on 31 May. We hope and intend not to need the ESM but what Ireland does not need is to be excluded from it, with the associated uncertainty.

The stability treaty is crystal clear about what it is for. Its very first article states that its purpose is to support "the achievement of the European Union's objectives for sustainable growth, employment, competitiveness and social cohesion" - jobs, real economies and fairness. To reinforce that point, when the treaty's text was agreed among EU leaders at the end of January, they agreed a growth programme in parallel with it. The Irish Government was a leader in efforts to ensure this growth programme and in ensuring growth was at the heart of the treaty itself.

On 27 March last, the Government decided 31 May would be the date for the stability treaty referendum and announced the wording of the proposed amendment to the Constitution, the Bill which we are now debating. The Bill contains the proposed amendment to the Constitution, first, to ratify the stability treaty itself and, second, to enable the Oireachtas to adopt any legislation necessary in order to implement its provisions. Contrary to what some have claimed, we are not inserting the treaty into our Constitution. We are ensuring that our constitutional arrangements enable us to ratify the treaty.

Announcing the referendum date on 27 March allowed for 65 days of debate before polling day. The Government is determined, both here in the Oireachtas and among the general public, that there will be a full and thorough debate on the stability treaty. I want to pay particular tribute to the sub-committee of the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs and its Chairman, Deputy Hannigan, for their work both before and since Easter in debating the stability treaty with a large variety of speakers. I participated there yesterday and I know its deliberations will inform the debate in both this House and the Seanad in the coming week. I also look forward to the sub-committee's report in the coming weeks.

It is the right and the duty of Government, as before, to play a part in informing the public, and one innovation in this referendum debate will be that every household will receive a copy of the treaty in Irish and English, along with a short explanatory text. The Referendum Commission, established just over eight weeks before referendum day, will also do its work and, of course, I respect its independence in that. All of us in the House, a minority of whom will campaign against the amendment, should, and no doubt will, be out there explaining and debating with the people, as is our obligation as public representatives. I know there are attempts to appeal to people to use their vote to register a protest of some form. These are difficult times, and with difficult decisions having been made to help fix our economy, it is understandable some people feel angry that they are contributing so much after all the economic mistakes that have been made during the previous decade. We are all angry that this country has found itself in the position it is in but the Government is determined to fix this.

I am voting "Yes" because I believe it helps us. My point today is that voting "No" genuinely will not help Ireland's recovery, it will hinder it. If the stability treaty is about anything, it is about making sure grave mistakes are not made again. It is about getting a sustainable, fair and people focused economy here in Ireland and across Europe, where public money is available for public services and job incentives, not for paying down debt. In addition, as I have said on many occasions, it is about the euro in our pocket.

When we are voting on 31 May, let us not use our vote on issues unrelated to the treaty. Let us, including all of us here in this House, keep the debate focused on the stability treaty and Ireland. I am heartened to see early evidence already from civil society groups, energised by this vital national issue and poised to play their part in the campaign. To see farmers and small business owners call for support for the treaty is a sign of how fundamental a stable eurozone with Ireland at its heart is for all of us. I do not claim and have never claimed that the stability treaty is the solution to all our problems but it is a very important part of the solution - for a stable euro, for investor confidence, for recovery and for a vote of confidence in our future. I urge the House to support the Bill and I urge the people of country to support the referendum on 31 May.

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