Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the promissory notes arrangement. First, I congratulate the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, and his team on a job well done. It has been generally accepted by all independent commentators that this was the best deal available in all the circumstances. In fact, some were either shocked or disappointed, perhaps, that such a good deal was negotiated.

There is no doubt that this deal is the result of hard work, strategic planning and intensive negotiations with all our partners in the Eurogroup. This is in stark contrast to the behaviour of the previous Government which had lost touch with our European partners when we were in greatest need of their support. The last Government lost the run of itself. It spent taxpayers' money as if it was snuff at a wake. In previous speeches I have referred to 20 projects over a period of ten years in which there was gross mismanagement of Government expenditure to the tune of over €7 billion. That Government also cut taxes and the tax base to an unsustainable level. Worse, however, it threw tax exemptions and financial incentives at its friends, particularly in the construction industry, who really needed to be restrained rather than incentivised. Undoubtedly, most of our current economic problems were exacerbated by the close relationship Fianna Fáil had with the building sector and this should never be allowed to happen again.

The "Prime Time" programme this week showed a classic example of stroke politics and stroke business. This type of business and politics robbed the hardworking workers and citizens of the country only to make champagne millionaires. That culture was created in the leadership of Fianna Fáil in the last three decades. Its desire for a quick thrill rather than building a strong economy with strong work and effort has cost every man, woman and child in the country his or her dream of a secure future. Does anybody now remember how Deputy Enda Kenny and Deputy Richard Bruton were attacked when they posed legitimate questions about the returns for pay increases under the benchmarking process?

After examination of the causes of our recent economic woes, I see a common factor which we must consider if we are to protect ourselves from this ever happening again. That factor is the number of so-called business gurus who were single entity bullies, running companies as if they were their personal kingdoms. They tore up the rule books and wrote their own rules. They did not tolerate contrary opinions and cost the country billions. Need I mention Irish Nationwide Building Society, Anglo Irish Bank, Quinn Insurance and others? Why would they not do this? It is exactly what they saw in our political leadership at the time, which led the country down a moral cul-de-sac. We need a much stronger regulatory system to protect us from such individuals and the formation again of a so-called golden circle.

The media need new protections to conduct more incisive investigative work and not all hunt the same story like a pack. I am aware, for example, of how long it took to remove the mask from Lance Armstrong. We must support good investigative journalism in exposing corruption and incompetence in all walks of life in order that all citizens will have better protection from these business dictators. A new crime should be introduced, that is, the abuse or misappropriation of other people's money by bankers, solicitors or other professionals tasked or trusted with the finances of others.

I am anxious that there be a social dividend for all the sacrifices citizens have had to endure owing to the reckless behaviour of the banks. In years to come, when the pillar banks return to a stronger position, I expect them to make a positive contribution to Irish society rather than returning to making super-profits. There should be a social bond for the good of our society, whereby the banks would make an extra contribution to society until all these debts are repaid and even after this, as the banks would not exist without the support of the community.

The Minister for Finance, since his appointment to office, has had only a few options available and each of them was a hard choice. He had stated there would be few gains for the taxpayers in this financial year because of front-loaded cost. However, we will save over €1 billion next year and we should give a little encouragement to taxpayers. I had intended to propose that we keep the property tax at the half rate for 2014, similar to this year, but I note the Minister has taken a more targeted approach to assist those most in need. I welcome this as a small but positive response to last week's renegotiation of the debts created by the previous Government.

Again, I congratulate the Minister, the civil servants and the Central Bank officials who worked hard to achieve this deal. It is a small step, but it should be recognised as a positive one. We could not go into negotiatings seeking something that was not available. That would have been incredible.

See this speech in context