Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)

We will be on the hook for €11 billion. Is the Minister of State seriously telling us that even if the people vote "No" to the fiscal treaty the Government will still pay this money to the ESM? It is an extraordinary statement if it is true.

The Minister of State and the Government keep repeating that they are in favour of jobs and growth. Will the Minister of State tell us specifically what she is speaking about in terms of a stimulus for jobs and economic growth? Economist after economist, including Martin Wolf in The Irish Times today, state if we sign up to the provisions of the fiscal treaty it will rule out any substantial or meaningful financial stimulus and that all that will be available to governments are what are called "structural reforms", which are more privatisation, property charges, water charges and downward pressure on wages and conditions for workers and workers' rights because they will have given away the option of financial stimulus by signing up to the targets of the fiscal treaty.

See this speech in context