Eoghan Murphy (Dublin South East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Agreements entered into must be honoured. Pacta sunt servanda is an incredibly important tenet of international relations. We are an island, but we exist in the world and much of what we do depends on our partners in that world, particularly in the European Union and the eurozone.

This is a welcome deal. It is important to recognise that it is a deal negotiated between parties. When a negotiation takes place, it involves compromise. When we make a compromise, we do not get exactly what we want and the deal will never be perfect. However, we should recognise that the deal achieved by the Government is the best possible outcome that could have been achieved in the negotiations. Hopefully, those who advocated a zero sum approach - putting the barrel of the gun to the head, or Russian roulette - with our international partners, will now recognise the folly of that type of approach. Although tough talking about high stakes might sound good, when it comes to the wealth of the nation - not just the financial wealth but its factors of production, land, labour, capital and enterprise - the risks are too high and the supposed benefits are too uncertain to take that kind of gamble.

The Government should be congratulated on the strategy it has adopted, on seeing that strategy through successfully, quietly and with determination, and on ignoring the criticisms constantly levelled at it over the past two years, both in this Chamber and outside. It set out to improve Ireland's reputation abroad, to increase foreign investment in the country, to commit ourselves wholly to the corrective measures that needed to be taken, to stabilise the economy and to drive bond yields down so that the European Central Bank and others could have confidence in the country and invest in Ireland again. This was the strategy, and in renegotiating the promissory notes last week as the Government did, we have shown that strategy has worked. It is important that we recognise that. It is not about putting on happy faces or gloating, but about recognising a good deal when it comes.

The deal will not solve all our problems, but the benefits should be recognised. It will help reduce our borrowing costs in the coming years and reduce general Government debt. It will help us find a pathway to making the debt more sustainable and will help with the deficit reductions that need to take place over the coming years. It will help put us on a surer footing as we exit the bailout. These are positives and should be acknowledged. I am not saying that people should not challenge the Government; I am not an opponent of criticism where it is just. However, we must recognise there is also a need for balance. Opponents of the Government need to accept this is a good deal for this country, recognise that and move on. This is not about deference. As the Tánaiste said previously, that age has passed. There is a need for balance and common sense, and when a good act is done for the country in important negotiations, that should be recognised and welcomed.

We must move on now, because there is a lot more with which we must deal. This deal does not change the financial imperative to correct the imbalance in our national finances and reduce the deficit as quickly as possible. That challenge has not gone away. We are still spending too much and must reduce spending. We are spending some money in the wrong way and need reform. This is what we must do and we must do it quickly. We must recognise that this deal will help us do that quickly and in a better and more sustainable way. We must be careful not to return to the giveaway mentality of the past, the mentality that tried to buy support from constituent elements of the population by either shouting a cause where there was none or by promising money where there was none. Today's times require greater responsibility than that.

Of course, some people face difficulties and need the help of the State. Some element of trust must be returned to politics. People need to trust their politicians again and they need to trust the economic strategy the Government is undertaking, because it is working. It is cutting the deficit, reforming the Government purse and growing the economy. At every point of that growth, we are trying to facilitate job creation where we can. Unemployment is the great structural problem in the economy today and that is what we need to fix. This deal will help us to address that huge problem.

See this speech in context