Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

I also am delighted to have an opportunity to speak on the legislation on the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic Monetary Union. The latter is quite a mouthful in itself.

Like previous speakers, I wish to be as rational and as calm as possible during my contribution to the debate on the Bill. However, when one hears some of the accusations that have been levelled at Members on this side of the Chamber by those in Labour and Fine Gael, one would be obliged to wonder whether others are being rational and calm. The treaty is quite a serious mechanism and I await the full documentation from the Referendum Commission in respect of it. I perused the list of those who are members of the commission and I accept that they are all eminent individuals in their own right. How are these people appointed and what qualifications do they possess? Why are lay people not appointed to the commission in order that some sensible proposals might be put forward? The result in one of the two most recent referendums was almost single-handedly affected by the actions of one Minister. I am glad that individual has come before the House in order to listen to the debate on the Bill. He is not on the phone and is neither texting nor tweeting. For once, he is listening.

I refer to the Minister for Justice and Equality who almost single-handedly sank the ship when it came to the referendum on Oireachtas inquiries. I hope the Government sends him on a holiday - perhaps he could return to Australia - and we can get someone to mind his house while he is gone. If he is not out of the country while the referendum campaign is taking place, I am of the view that the ship will sink again. The Minister has a penchant for uttering mealy-mouthed words and launching attacks on various individuals. During the previous referendum campaign, he attacked seven or eight former Attorneys General and stated that they were all wrong. That referendum was rushed and was opposed, for good reason, by the Technical Group. I was a Member during the lifetime of the previous Dáil and I am aware that an inquiry carried out by one of the committees became extremely political in nature. If we had achieved the type of inquiries the Minister had wanted, we might all be banished from this land for ever more.

The Bill before the House relates to the fiscal treaty. People in this country are entitled to a degree of fair play. Ireland joined the EU in 1973. I was in favour of it doing so and, as a young man, I campaigned for a "Yes" vote. I have also campaigned in respect of other treaties in the interim. Everyone is aware of what happened in respect of the Lisbon treaty. When we did not get the right result, the treaty was referred back to the people in a second referendum. Certain Ministers and Ministers of State have stated that if the fiscal treaty is not passed, it will be referred back to the people until it is accepted. Is that fair play?

I find myself obliged to ask whether the Government has even a shred of credibility left to it. During the past four years - and, in particular, during the 18 months prior to the general election - those who are now in government made various promises and launched many attacks. People voted for them on foot of those promises. On the previous occasion on which the representatives from the troika were in Dublin, they informed Opposition Deputies that, unlike Greece, Ireland is great because the Government has a huge mandate in respect of all the austerity that is being imposed. The Government does not have such a mandate. The parties in government campaigned on anti-austerity platforms. The Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, famously stated that it would be Labour's way or Frankfurt's way. The Government obtained its mandate under totally false pretences. How does it expect the electorate to support it in respect of this extremely important matter? The electorate cannot support the Government. To paraphrase the old saying, it is a case of "Fool me once and it is your fault, fool me twice and it is my fault".

The people are sick and tired of trickery. They obtained the exact opposite of what they voted for in the election. They cannot take any more austerity. What they want is fair play and recognition. The first deal we obtained from Europe, the so-called bailout, was and remains a clean-out. We received reasonable interest rates from the IMF in respect of that deal but our so-called European friends sought to rob us. With friends like them, who needs enemies? The ECB is charging us almost 6% in interest, which is in the region of 3% more than the rate being charged by the IMF. However, it is loaning out money to others at a rate of 1% or less. Who is it codding? I contacted the previous Minister, the late Brian Lenihan - Lord rest him - on the fateful day when the bailout was agreed. It was the same day on which my late mother was buried. I asked Mr. Lenihan to come home and leave the deal on the table. We fell out over it because I knew that we were being cleaned out. I questioned him as to who had accompanied him to Europe to conclude the deal on the bailout and he informed me of their identities. Not one of them ever stood behind a shop counter, ran a business or worked on a factory floor in their lives. They are privileged people who do not understand how ordinary working people, ordinary unemployed people and ordinary small business people are obliged to live. It is always the privileged who go abroad to represent us in these situations.

The position is the same in respect of the Referendum Commission. Ordinary people are being both forgotten and disenfranchised. Both parties in government have given them the two fingers. Those to whom I refer voted for a particular set of promises in the election but they have been treated to the exact opposite since the Government came to power. As already stated, during the previous campaign the Minister opposite went on television and rejected the arguments put forward by all and sundry. According to the Minister, everyone except him was an eejit. He is Mr. Wise Man but he single-handedly sank the ship. The double act that is him and the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Hogan, will sink the Government. Their disdain for ordinary people is despicable. The Minister for Justice and Equality displays total arrogance towards Deputies on this side of the House each morning during the Order of Business. He fires across insult after insult at Members on these benches. He does so under the radar but nevertheless such insults are being levelled at people. Deputies on this side are being derided and being accused of all kinds of things because their views are different from those held by the Minister.

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