Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on the Euro Area Loan Facility (Amendment) Bill. This amendment benefits Greece, and in so doing benefits the wider European Union. As a member state of the European Union, Ireland will also benefit in the long term.

The amendments we are considering were agreed by the euro area finance Ministers in December 2012 but are subject to national procedures and approvals. These changes include an extension of the term of the loan under the facility from 15 to 30 years. Also included is a further reduction of 1% in the interest rates. On a more technical level, a feature of the Bill is the proposal to deal with these types of amendment to the Greek loan facility by resolution of the Dáil, without engaging the full legislative process, to deal in a timely fashion with important issues affecting a fellow member state. Ireland has loaned €345 million as part of the Greek loan facility. Under the provisions of the Bill, Ireland will receive a lower interest rate over a longer period. The principal of the debt, which is due to be repaid during 2020 to 2026, will now be repaid between 2020 and 2041. This will significantly reduce the risk that Greece will default on its repayments. It is in all our interests that we reduce this risk. Ireland also hopes to avail of lower interest rates over a prolonged period of repaying the debt we owe.

I have read and listened for months as experts have written in newspapers and spoken in the media, in the Dáil or elsewhere in the country on how we should renege on our debt. They say we should not pay the debt but walk away from it. I accept that when we entered into this process, it was partly a knee-jerk reaction to the situation in which we found ourselves. I remember the night the bank guarantee was put in place. That decision was taken on the basis of the best advice available. Since then, many people, particularly Opposition politicians, have said we can walk away from the debt. If we do that, we will turn our back on Europe and on democracy.

Ireland joined the European movement in the 1970s. At the time, Ireland was not a well-off country. The standard of education was low, there was a huge amount of unemployment, people were leaving the country and people in rural areas were poor. Huge strides and changes have been made due to our membership of the European Union. I recall attending a rally in Tralee in late 1969 or early 1970 prior to our joining the EU. The then Commissioner for Agriculture, Sicco Mansholt, was present. There were people on the streets at the time saying that Europe was bad for Ireland. There was huge interest throughout the country in the benefits, but there was also huge anxiety about whether we would get them. Having lived through those years I can state that we live in a different and far better country now than it was in those days. Look at the houses in rural Ireland and the prosperity evident in our roads and rail network. It applies to every aspect of life.

With regard to education, people of my generation left school at 14 and 15 years of age. Are they leaving school at that age now? No, they are leaving when they are in their 20s and well educated. There are third level colleges in every second and third county in the country. They are in Dublin, Cork, Galway, Letterkenny, Tralee, Thurles and Waterford. Throughout the country there are facilities where people can be educated. Regardless of whether our people stay in Ireland or go to Australia or Canada, they are educated. That is one result of the prosperity generated by our involvement in Europe. It has made for a better place and a better people. We forget all this when we speak here about burning the bondholders and turning our back on Europe. How dare people say that? I challenge them to say it when the Irish people, on several occasions, have made decisions about Europe. We made a very strong commitment when we first joined the EU, and in every referendum and election relating to Europe since then, the Irish people have fully supported what we have gained from Europe.

I had not intended to participate in this debate but I feel passionate about where this country has come from. People are forgetting what the situation was in the 1960s and 1970s. We are a far better off nation, one of which one can be proud. It is the best place to be. I have confidence in the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance and in their efforts to seek a better deal. This is about getting a better deal for Ireland. Yes, we can negotiate, and we will continue to negotiate, but one does not turn one's back on one's debts. One pays one's bills and pays one's way. It is nonsense to say one should turn one's back on them. One can make a better deal, secure low interest rates and fight to have to repay it over a long period of time. If a person borrows €100 tomorrow and has no money after paying it back, it is impossible to manage. It is different if it is being paid off over 50 or 100 years.

Ultimately, this Bill is about finance and cash. We can strike a better deal. We have been good Europeans, even if we have blotted our copy book in a few ways. Overall, however, we are very committed to the European project and I believe that the Europeans will eventually row in behind us. We have too much invested in it. The people who politicise this by talking daily about burning bondholders in order to grab headlines should stop and think of the people who are unemployed and of the young 17 and 18 year olds who will be leaving college in a few years. The way to proceed is to have guts, stand and fight a good fight in Europe and make a good deal for the people. I have no doubt that we will be in a far better place in a few years time.

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