Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour) | Oireachtas source

In any debate on the eurozone and fiscal responsibility, I am always grateful for the RTE archives which show that I was opposed, for many reasons, to Ireland's joining the euro. I was privileged to study economics in a Scandinavian country where the many pitfalls into which we have fallen were emphasised. Ultimately, we have ended up in a position in which we do not want to be. As a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform and having met with representatives of the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank, I have concluded that there are three aspects to our predicament which should be emphasised. First, we have the largest banking problem in Europe. Despite accounting for only 1% of the European banking sector, Ireland receives 10% of ECB funding. Second, the financial model pursued by Fianna Fáil-led Governments over a period of 14 years resulted in this country having the most unsustainable economy in the entirety of Europe. The third issue we must bear in mind is that as well as our unsustainable bank debt, we are dealing with a large fiscal deficit. In fact, ours is the largest per capita deficit in the whole of Europe.

Unfortunately, there is a lack of comprehension of these fundamental realities among many in the commentariat and, in turn, the general public. Instead we get the simple line that austerity is not working. We can all agree that austerity is the opposite of prosperity. It does not take a rocket scientist to deduce that an economy cannot stimulate itself when it is necessary to make expenditure cuts in order to bring spending into line with incoming revenues. That is what the Government is seeking to do, slowly and incrementally. It is sometimes a case of two steps forward and one step back. We got to where we are through reckless government which, as Deputy Gerard Nash observed, looked always to the popular and simple solution and was content to throw money at every problem. Yet anybody who sat down with a ruler and pen could have seen that the path on which we were set was unsustainable. The end result of all its populist antics is a Fianna Fáil Party with fewer than 20 seats in the Dáil. People's memories are not short when it comes to politics and I am convinced that Fianna Fáil will never again achieve an overall majority in my lifetime. When the State was in its time of greatest need since its foundation, neither of the two Opposition parties made so much as a telephone call to seek to form a Government. By not standing up for what they professed to believe, by running for cover, by opting for a very easy time in opposition as opposed to a very difficult period in government, they let the flag down.

The issue of bank debt versus national debt is a major consideration in any discussion of fiscal responsibility. I had to laugh this morning when I heard Deputy Micheál Martin ask about the policy documents relating to the provision of primary care units. We have sought, by way of freedom of information inquests and through every imaginable parliamentary question, to obtain information on the bank guarantee that was rubber-stamped by Fianna Fáil in 2008. There is no information as to how this country ended up in a position where its sovereignty was lost. The national flag should be flying at half mast until that sovereignty is restored. Shame on those who would seek to absolve themselves of that responsibility while we still suffer the consequences. My colleagues and I will not let Sinn Féin off the hook for that and nor will the commentariat and the electorate.

Banking debt must be separated from sovereign debt, and that will only be achieved with the co-operation of allies and friends throughout Europe. Recent comments, however, from the Finns, Dutch and Germans suggest that they have all forgotten their own pasts. I will certainly be reminding my social democrat friends, many of whom do not appreciate the extent to which we are attempting to implement unpopular policies for the sake of keeping the country afloat, of the realities. In recent days we had the sight of a Nazi flag being marched through the streets of Athens. A whole generation - which I refer to as Generation Jinxed - is being left on the periphery throughout Europe. All it will take is a match for the situation to ignite. Some people in this country seem to have forgotten that we were on the very edge of the abyss two years ago, with the very real prospect of being unable to access funding. Sinn Féin's comments on yesterday's IMF report point to either a lack of intelligence, a lack of morality or a lack of the knowledge necessary to call the situation as it is. There is a bluff going on here. The austerity programme is being implemented so that we can borrow money to keep the show on the road. In the absence of that funding, everybody working for the State and everybody in receipt of social welfare benefits of any kind would be immediately facing a 33% reduction.

Deputy Gerry Adams talks of casting out the troika and burning bondholders, but he does not address the reality of the fiscal deficit. In case some people have still not worked it out, I reiterate that it is a separate issue to banking debt. The claim that austerity is the cause of our problems is a blatant lie. The country was run into the rocks and must now be refloated. Those of us in here who are making choices and seeking to influence the Cabinet to do the right thing by the people of Ireland have shown responsibility. To claim that the troika is the problem shows a simple lack of comprehension of what is going on. An end to austerity will not lead to prosperity. We will only see a return to prosperity if we co-operate with allies and friends to achieve that end. Many people might criticise the fact that the Taoiseach and Tánaiste are out there trying to make allies. I welcome it because I am aware of the impact it is having on our capacity to renegotiate our deal. Even a simple issue such as the restoration of the minimum wage, for example, would not have been achieved without that engagement.

Sinn Féin, however, is proposing that we tell the troika to go away and take with it the €50 million per day that is keeping this country afloat. The party has a very soft underbelly when it comes to fiscal responsibility. It is sometimes said that one may judge a person's character by his or her friends. The grouping with which Sinn Féin is aligned in the European Parliament, the European United Left, includes among its number the communist parties of the Czech Republic, Spain and Greece, and Die Linke, or The Left, in Germany, which is the former ruling party of the eastern bloc.

These parties are relics of a dark past and it would be reckless to pursue economic policies similar to the ones they advocate.

We are doing everything possible to return the country to prosperity, stop emigration, create employment, ensure fairness and improve living standards. As a coalition of a centre-right and a centre-left political party, the Government will engage in compromise in every step it takes. The alternatives and simple solutions advanced by others should be scrutinised and shown for what they are, namely, reckless fallacies based on silly finance. The populism of the parties with which opponents of the Bill are associated is dangerous.

This is responsible legislation. While I opposed Ireland's decision to join the euro, we cannot leave the single currency now. If we are to emerge from the current hole, we must climb out of it using the ladder with which we climbed into it. In the years ahead we may decide to have a currency that is more domestically oriented and evenly balanced, focusing on Britain, the United States and Europe.

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