Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The communities in his constituency who do such good work every day, many of them in a voluntary capacity, are not even worthy of recognition from Deputy Boyd Barrett, whom some of them elected him to this House to speak for them. He does not mention the fact that the consumer index of confidence is up for the fourth month, that growth has returned to the Irish economy, albeit on a small scale, for the first time in a number of years or the fact that employment has stabilised and that there are signs of confidence among businesses that matters will improve. They can only improve if we keep our confidence level high and prove it by decisiveness on the part of the Government.

In this case, there is a decision to be made by the Irish people. It has nothing to do with Greece, France or the regional elections in Germany. This is a decision for the Irish people and we are well able to make that decision. I am asking the people to decide very positively that they know where our future lies, that is, in being a strong partner with Europe and having access to all that goes with that. A "Yes" vote guarantees that confidence and that future. A "No" vote will lead us down the road of lack of confidence, strangling investment and the austerity I am quite sure the Deputy would love to see abound in this country. We will change that. With the help and support of the people we will set out a platform for growth, opportunity and investment not for anybody here, but for the next generation. That is important. This is about the bigger picture. What Deputy Boyd Barrett is painting is a society of conflict and aggression. That is not what is needed in Ireland. The Irish people will make their decision on 31 May and I expect it to be overwhelmingly positive.

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