Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Fáiltím roimh an deis seo labhairt ar an ábhar tábhachtach seo. Táim an-bródúil a bheith mar chuid den Rialtas a raibh in ann an Bille seo a chur os comhair Tithe an Oireachtais. Ní dóigh liom go ndéanfaidh mé dearmad riamh ar an lá stairiúil sin, an Déardaoin seo caite, nuair a tháinig an Taoiseach, an Tánaiste agus na hAirí isteach os ár gcomhair le haghaidh forálacha an chomhaontuithe a chur os ár gcomhair. Ní amháin ar mo shon féin a labhraím nuair a chuirim fáilte roimh an comhaontú seo, ach ar son mhuintir iar Chorcaigh a thogh mé dhá bhliain ó shin.

It is not my views and opinions I express, but those of the people in west Cork I am honoured to represent, in welcoming this deal. When I knocked on the doors in Bandon last Saturday morning, the relief people felt was evident everywhere. They genuinely welcome this development, not for political gain of any sort or because of any benefit to the Government, but because they are genuinely relieved to see Ireland turning the corner. This is a good and positive development because it has given people hope - people who are struggling and who are challenged financially and who find life so difficult. This deal was a good deal for them and the people I met at their doors last Saturday welcomed it without exception.

Much has been made during this debate of the fairy-tale suggestion that we should write down our debt. Such notional theories provide great fodder for opportunistic, opposition-style politics, but for those of us who exist in the real world, we embrace and welcome this development. The idea that some fairy godmother heading up the European Central Bank would wave her magic wand and wipe away debts of billions of euro is utter nonsense. It is farcical to say the least.

The Government sought and received a mandate from the people to go back to Europe and renegotiate this arrangement, which was going to cost the country €3.1 billion every year. The Government has honoured that mandate and I am extremely proud of that achievement. My pride and gratitude are not of a political nature but based on the benefits that will accrue to this generation of hard-pressed citizens. Another notional theory is that this is not our debt. This again is a fantasy proposed by opportunistic opposing politics. Nobody here has the ability or the luxury to rewrite history. We cannot do that. It would be necessary to rewrite the terms of history if we were to disown the State and make that our starting point. Rightly or wrongly, the decision to save the banks was taken by a previous Administration. I do not pretend to be qualified to judge that decision. Time will be the ultimate judge of that. There are many views of what should have been done, but some of these have the benefit of hindsight.

As I have said here previously, the idea of a write-down is the same as a default. It would be farcical to aspire to a default. A default should never be an aspiration.

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