Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The deal announced last week to wind up IBRC and replace promissory notes with a long-term bond was a huge win for the country. That said, I join Deputy Ciara Conway in recognising the plight of the IBRC workers who had their jobs thrown into doubt overnight. It is extremely important to record the need to have meaningful engagement with the Irish Bank Officials' Association on the circumstances in which its members find themselves. I want to ensure the workers are treated fairly and transparently in the coming period.

Last week's deal will allow us to tear up the promissory notes which had to be paid within ten years and replace them with a Government bond which will not have to be paid for 40 years. The interest rate will also change from 8% to 3%. Essentially, we swap a short-term overdraft at horrendous rates for an arrangement that is akin to the type of arrangement applying to a long-term mortgage. Far from putting a millstone around the necks of our children, the deal allows us to recover to provide our children with jobs and security and a future in their own country. It is a massive improvement on the deal we inherited on coming into Government and it will save the taxpayer €20 billion over the next decade. The deal is not a panacea but gives the country considerable breathing space in which to recover. We continue to need to borrow considerable sums of money every year to meet our daily spending requirements. The vast majority of the borrowed money goes to our schools, hospitals and public servants who provide services in the State. We are not just borrowing to pay banks, despite what some chancers on the populist left would have one believe.

I find it extraordinary to witness the twisting of Sinn Féin in particular over the last few days. The silence and discomfort on the Sinn Féin benches when the deal was announced was testament to the utter cynicism in the party's ranks. The best news the country has received since the start of the banking disaster in 2008 with the bank guarantee was greeted with dismay by Sinn Féin. It did not know how to react. For the last week, it has been a party in search of an excuse to deny the excellent deal before us. Sinn Féin would rather the country burned than see it recover if it meant the party obtained some sort of short-term political advantage. The party that helped to create the mess in the first place by voting for the bank guarantee on that infamous night has now turned around and voted against the solution. It has more to do with carving out a space in the political market place than with any serious consideration of the issue at hand.

I return to address the deal and the relief which Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin said we could not deliver. It is not just a good deal. It is an important step towards leaving the bailout programme and regaining control over our own economic affairs and destiny. Progress has been made. Ireland was one of the few countries in Europe to register any form of economic growth last year. There will be growth this year and in 2014 and Ireland will recover. The deal will help that recovery immeasurably. In the last ten months, the IDA has announced almost 2,000 foreign direct investment jobs in my constituency of Louth. eBay announced 450 new jobs today. Major multinationals invest in stable economies. The massive international welcome for the deal struck last week demonstrates that it will inspire greater confidence in Ireland. The promissory note deal is a major part of our rebuilding process and very much to be welcomed.

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