Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When listening to Opposition contributions, I am sure Members on these benches wonder what Government would be like if, for example, Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan was Minister for Finance and Deputy Mattie McGrath was his Minister for State. What sort of catastrophe would ensue if their rhetoric became a reality? I do not think Sinn Féin is as financially illiterate as its rhetoric in the national media and this House suggests. It is simply the usual story of playing politics with people's fear and anger. I have heard talk of crocodile tears from Opposition Members who would prefer instead to play Russian roulette with people's lives in order to see what would happen if we default. Will social welfare be cut by 25%? Will teachers' and nurses' pay be cut by 25%? Put a bullet in the chamber and see what happens.

The Members opposite cannot believe that sort of nonsense unless they are stuck in an ideological time warp from the days of Soviet five year plans. We saw what happened to that experiment. It disappeared, unless North Korea is the new poster boy for running a modern economy. To some degree, the comments that have been made are pure lies. We are stuck with a contractual obligation in the promissory note. It is not toxic debt and no amount of spin changes that. If we did not pay it we would have defaulted. We have negotiated a space to get out of our current economic mess. The economy is still fragile and requires considerable support to nurse it back to health. I do not understand why the Deputies opposite are so keen to pay the money back over the next eight years. At the same time they want to default. Neither option will work for the people of Ireland. We have to create confidence so that people can get back to work in this country. Reference was made to the former employees of Anglo Irish Bank. A very large number of people have jobs that are precarious and they are worried about their futures. The central concern of Government policy over the past two years was to provide the support these people need.

I was a Member of the Oireachtas in 2010. I recall the image of A.J. Chopra crossing the road from the Merrion Hotel to Government Buildings. That image represents the loss of our economic sovereignty. Such was people's concern for the country that they were visibly relieved to see the IMF take over the economy. Trojan work has been done to restore our image internationally. I recently attended an OECD conference on banking and financial systems in Paris. Every country in Europe recognises what we have done for ourselves.

We know that austerity is miserable and tough on people but it can always get worse. I will not vote for a Government that plays Russian roulette with people's lives. We have to consider every decision we make because we can easily damage our economy and the international reputation that we have just about restored. This is why we are getting foreign direct investment. We will soon be able to borrow again on the international markets. By next December we will be on the verge of exiting this programme. That is a great achievement against the background of maintaining educational and health services, restoring the minimum wage and taking 300,000 people out of the universal social contribution net. I do not expect Sinn Féin or the Technical Group to give us credit for that achievement.

If any criticism was to be made of the Government, it would be that although it is doing well at government, it is just not playing the politics as well as some members of the Opposition.

I heard Deputy Luke 'Ming' Flanagan on my local radio station on Friday and he was either economically illiterate or playing politics. He was making it up as he went along, and did not like being corrected. I am sure the same goes for other Deputies right across the country. Sinn Féin representatives and other Members of the Opposition are given free rein on radio. We need to get out and sell what we are doing more strongly than we are. The Government has worked unbelievably well considering the crisis the country has been in, the fragility of our economic situation and the fact we have a long road to travel before we get back to where we were. There is a need for more honesty and the media needs to highlight that. Overall, this was a good deal for Ireland. It has created the space for us to come out of the crisis. I wish the Government every bit of luck and support for the coming years.

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