Dan Neville (Limerick, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I congratulate the key people involved including my fellow Limerick man, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, his staff, and the diplomatic work done by Deputy Enda Kenny as Taoiseach. People do not realise the importance of that until there is tangible evidence of somebody being in a position at 7 p.m. or 8 p.m. on a Sunday evening to contact the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to overcome difficulties. I congratulate also the other Ministers involved and in particular Patrick Honohan, the Governor of the Central Bank, and his staff who were key to the work being done over recent years.

This outcome is a key step in rescuing our country and our economy for future generations and ensuring that over time its effects, and the additional work that has to be done, will bring us back to a position where everybody who wants to work in this country can do so and everybody can have a decent standard of living and confidence in their future. In the past week one can detect a growing confidence in the future of our economy and our country, but there is a long way to go yet.

There was a great deal of debate regarding the write-down of the debt. First, we know there could not have been a write-down because it is illegal under European Union rules. Second, we could have sought a write-down and played to the gallery knowing that it would not happen but that would have damaged our credibility in the negotiations which the Government had to ensure would be successful. We were dealing with politicians but we were also dealing with very senior people in the service with whom we had to establish a relationship, obtain their confidence and convince them that we were serious about sorting out the problem in the interest of our State and in the interest of Europe because this is a signal to other European countries that with diligent work improvements can take place. However, there is a large body of work to be done, and everybody should support the Government in that work and ensure that the path which was set last week will continue to develop.

I congratulate also and acknowledge the work of the diplomatic service throughout Europe under the leadership of the Tánaiste, Deputy Eamon Gilmore, who we now know did fantastic work over that period. It is one thing to have negotiations with the key people but it is also important that we influence those in the circle, so to speak, in terms of our credibility.

Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide are gone. The promissory notes are gone. There has been much debate on those two institutions in recent years, and rightly so. We should ensure that the effect of what has happened and what will develop will result in our people having a better life and being able to live in our country. That should be our objective.

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