Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

Thank you, a Cheann Comhairle, for allowing me to have my say this evening on this very important Bill. The Bill gives effect to the referendum on the Treaty on Stability, Co-ordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union. The main purpose of the treaty is to create greater discipline among member states right across Europe. Fiscal discipline is not new to the EU, but is something that has lacked enforcement and leadership in the past. Member states which signed up to the euro had to meet the Maastricht criteria and the Stability and Growth Pact was put in place to ensure the participating countries observed the rules. The pact obliged members to practice prudent fiscal policies and more particularly to maintain broadly balanced national budgets over the economic cycle. The failure of the European Council to apply sanctions against countries such as France and Germany when they breached the criteria showed a complete disregard for the rules that had been put in place, and that caused major problems. In the case of Germany, it used its size and power to reach a compromise regarding its budget deficit and therefore avoided any sanctions.

What this treaty aims to do is to foster long-term budgetary discipline in the EU and the euro area. The treaty will reinforce the Stability and Growth Pact and it will also promote greater economic governance and fiscal discipline. The decision to use the six pack and various other types of votes to reverse an agreed programme ensures that states which exceed the permissible deficits will find it more difficult to escape punishment. The deficit rule will require countries to ensure that public debts are kept at safe levels which is to be set at 60% of GDP. Economic research on this level has shown that anything in excess of this figure would have a negative effect on jobs and economic growth. That is what this must be about, particularly given the situation in which this country finds itself.

The main difference between this treaty and the existing provisions in EU regulations is that these rules will be implemented into national legislation and will require greater self-discipline by the participating countries. By endorsing this treaty we as a country are sending a strong and positive message to the world, as this treaty will contribute to our recovery, ensure economic stability for our country and will contribute greatly to the restoration of confidence in Ireland, which has been at a desperately low ebb for the past number of years. Young people who have left our shores and emigrated to Australia, America, Canada, England and even to mainland Europe are looking to us to do something to change our economy and make this a better place for them, to make their homeland that they so love a place to which they can return and get a job. Too often in recent years we have seen highly educated young people leave these shores and this has had an impact on GAA clubs, rugby clubs and soccer clubs. Two young lads will leave my village next week. They are on the local GAA team and their leaving will be a loss to our community.

While young people may want to go away and see the world, what they want us to do is to make sure that when return to our shores they can get a job and that they have an opportunity like each and every one of us in this House has. That is what is important. That is the responsibility of us in government. While Members can say what they want when in opposition and that is their job, those in opposition have not been constructive in the past 12 months in their attitude to the people who have left our shores. Being constructive in that respect is the important point that we need to stress and that is what these people are seeking. It is very easy to use septic tanks and every other excuse one can think of to embarrass the Government. In the next six or eight weeks the Members of this House should show leadership, do what is good for Ireland, do what is good for our young people and show our determination to do that in a realistic way by making sure that in four years time when we leave this House to go to the country we will have it in a better place.

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