Dara Murphy (Cork North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is ludicrous to use them as an example of why we should renege on our national debt. Deputy Boyd Barrett may have been abroad or on the moon yesterday but we continue to have successful job announcements. Some 900 jobs were announced in Naas yesterday. That is testament to international confidence and, most important, to our arriving at a point where the nation is achieving competitiveness.

However, I agree with Deputy Boyd Barrett in one regard. We are all agreed that the ongoing burden of the cost of the debt to the people is unsustainable. The Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach know this more than anyone else. This is why we should not only welcome the announcement of 29 June by the Heads of Government but pour some scorn on the independent move made by three of the 27 finance Ministers, who took it upon themselves to engage in a discussion or dialogue. I am reasonably confident that this was part of a negotiating process. I have no doubt this was because other countries have not kept within their terms as strictly as we have, although some of them have been reasonably successful, namely, the Greeks, the Portuguese and the Spanish. Throughout this dialogue we may be victims in some ways. If governance within Europe is to achieve anything and if confidence within politics in Europe is to be achieved, then when Heads of Government and Prime Ministers make a decision it is not acceptable or reasonable for three Ministers of the same governments - we are not referring to people from opposition parties within those countries - to deviate within a period of months from the position of their governments. That is the sort of political infighting which allows critics of the European model to say validly that Europe cannot stick by a decision.

In any event, the 29 June decision will serve the people well. The country continues to make good progress. We are in a position whereby we continue to borrow billions of euro but the amounts we are borrowing are shrinking year after year. We continue to increase the number of people at work. The Government is altogether aware that our unemployment levels are far too high and that our banking system remains broken. Some of the suggestions that have come from those opposite would only serve to make things worse. The Government has been responsible for sticking to a plan along the lines of fiscal responsibility. The people were responsible for voting "Yes". We can be confident that the responsibility shown by the Government will continue. We will repay the people for the faith they have shown and we will get the country out of the difficulty it has been put in by former governments. Deputy Boyd Barrett noted that people sometimes refer to the light at the end of the tunnel. If Deputy Boyd Barrett found the light at the end of the tunnel he would blow it out and that is no good to the people.

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