Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate the Government and everybody associated with the deal - civil servants, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform. The confused Members on the other side of the House have been predicting doom and gloom for the past two years, said it could never happen and that there would be no write-down. They called for a write-down of the capital, knowing full well that they had entered into a firm bond to repay. They met the troika, accepted the conditions laid down and were lucky to be able to walk away with this at the time. Deputy Billy Kelleher who is leading for the Opposition this morning is a very nice guy and I am very fond of him, but I am getting very worried about him because he seemed to be hallucinating. He seemed to be of the opinion that there was no community gain from this settlement, when there is a big one. The biggest of all is the possibility that there will be space for growth, the one thing missing from our economic equation in the past four years. There is now space and room for the country to grow again, the economy to move upwards and jobs to be created, as well as less room for cynicism.

Members on the other side of the House of all parties who have been predicting doom and gloom for the past two years were wrong in each and every one of their prophecies. They predicted and encouraged the fall of the euro. They suggested people should buy other currencies to be safe, but they were wrong. They predicted economic downfall and implosion, but they were wrong again. They predicted everything that could have happened and fed a continuous tirade to cause depression among the people through the media to such an extent that the people began to believe them. Fortunately, the Government saw the people through the gap, stood steadfastly behind them, took seriously the undertaking it had given them two years ago and negotiated hard in the European Union. Remember what we were told. We were told the Government did not know how to negotiate, that it was too wishy-washy and that it was not strong enough in the negotiations. Well now we know. It is a great relief to the people who have borne the burden of what has been foisted on them. They have done so valiantly and with great difficulty, but they have stood up to it. We must appreciate their integrity and the degree to which they have withstood the burden foisted on them.

The Opposition has constantly harped on recently about why did the Government not seek a write-down of the capital. How many times have we heard this? How many times have we heard speeches at public meetings and protests all over the country about the household charge and increases in taxation? At the same time, the people concerned were calling for a write-down of the capital. I challenge the Opposition to tell us the lending institutions its members have frequented to suggest they write down the capital borrowed last year, the year before or in the past ten years and that they want a continuous subsidy from them for the next five years in order that people will be able to pay their way. The point I am making is that some Members on the opposite side of the House do not seem to understand we have had a budget deficit for several years which must be addressed and that the previous Government entered into an undertaking to bring it down. The Government correctly decided to go along with the agreement to bring it down to 3% of GDP. We must do this. Members on the other side of the House confuse this with austerity, but it is good housekeeping. If it happens to be seen as austerity, that is unfortunate, but we are trying to recover the ground lost in a period of irresponsibility. It is a sad way to be, but that is the way it is.

Congratulations are due to the people, the Government and our friends in Europe who all stood together as one to try to bring about a solution to part of the problem the Government and the people have inherited. There is more to do. I do not want to paraphrase what a famous politician said; I certainly will not go there.

See this speech in context