Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

The stability treaty is simple in nature. This is not a complex issue because the treaty relates to a very simple matter. The treaty is designed to protect the citizens of this State from reckless spending on the part of future generations. Essentially, it will also ensure sound budgetary principles. The treaty will protect the current and future generations - the current children of this State and the future grandchildren of many people who live here - from Governments engaging in the type of reckless spending policies pursued from 2002 onwards by Fianna Fáil-led Governments.

Despite how it is being termed by some on the opposite side of the House, this is not an austerity treaty. It is, rather, a treaty which is designed to ensure an ultimate end to austerity and to protect the current and future generations from a repetition of the bad politics of the past. Much of that type of bad politics has coloured many of the contributions that have been made by those who are opposed to the treaty and who are calling for a "No" vote. The bad politics now being peddled by Sinn Féin and various Independent Deputies posits that the State is some form of bottomless ATM which provides money to the Government and that this can be spent without anyone taking responsibility of any kind for raising other funds.

This State is on the road to recovery. There are difficult times ahead and tens of thousands of families continue to experience problems. The treaty is a piece of the jigsaw which must be completed to ensure we continue on the road to recovery. It will also ensure the multinational companies operating in the State and those outside it which are considering the possibility of establishing operations and creating jobs here will have confidence in the budgetary policies that will be implemented by future Governments and also in the stability of the euro.

There are far too many Members of this House - in Sinn Féin and the smaller parties and on the Independent benches - who continually call for additional expenditure in respect of everything without recognising the need to raise money to achieve this. Deputy McDonald stated the Government is inviting citizens to set in stone a binding international agreement that will place serious restrictions on our capacity to borrow. Despite the reckless spending of the previous Fianna Fáil-led Government and the appalling legacy inherited by the current Administration, the Deputy apparently believes there should be no constitutional or legal barriers of any nature erected to prevent a future Government replicating the disastrous policies of the past. There is a terrible dishonesty at the heart of the Sinn Féin approach to this issue. In her speech, Deputy Mary Lou McDonald stated "It is important to say that those of us who have been critical of EU institutions, policies and treaties are not, therefore, anti-European." The reality is that Sinn Féin has been obsessively opposed to every EU related treaty since referendums have been held on the issue, and the position taken by Sinn Féin is no different today than in the past. The Sinn Féin Party, as well as Deputies Higgins, Boyd Barrett and Mattie McGrath, are followers and leading proponents of the "money grows on trees" school of politics. It is the bad politics of the past which these people continue to articulate in the present, and which no Government should be permitted to engage with in future.

It is in the national interest that we effect debt reduction, bringing budget deficits under controlled limits. It is in the interest of the people of this State and future generations that people should vote "Yes" on this treaty. Deputy Higgins has criticised the fact that EU member states which do not ratify the stability treaty will not be able to access the European Stability Mechanism, arguing that this is "outrageous blackmail". It seems that he and others believe this State has a continuing right to receive funds without being obliged to take action to deal with fiscal difficulties. There is a belief on the part of Deputy Higgins and others that we are entitled to live beyond our means and continue to receive financial hand-outs from the rest of Europe. There is a total lack of reality in this approach, and it is grossly dishonest to deceive voters in this way. Is it not reasonable for citizens of other EU states to ask if we need additional funding, why we should receive it in the absence of bringing debt under control and supporting the essential legal architecture being put in place to ensure we do not get into similar difficulties in future?

Deputy Ó Cuív has said that although he is opposing the treaty, he is in favour of fiscal discipline, again replicating the bad politics which he and his colleagues engaged with in government. It is a great pity that at that time the Deputy did not express some enthusiasm for fiscal discipline.

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