Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Technical Group for putting down the motion, which is an attempt to revisit the past and re-write history. We all wish that things had been done differently but we cannot undo what has been done and what was put in place without consideration of the consequences.

Last weekend was the 50th anniversary of Doctor Who. The Deputies who tabled this motion must have thought they had access to a Tardis. They confused reality with the fictional time travelling of Doctor Who. How else can they explain taking such a reckless step without realising the consequences for the Irish people? Talking about an ideology is one thing but being in government means one is responsible to all of the citizens all of the time.

We have already had one Government that staked the future of the Irish people on a game of high risk poker and lost. We are now seeing a different approach that is delivering results. The approach of this Government is to work with our partners, use constructive diplomacy to achieve results, and relieve the burden that was put on the shoulders of the Irish people. It is important to thank the Irish people for playing a responsible role in assisting this Government to recover our economic fortunes.

Last February, the Government reached an agreement with the ECB to restructure the former promissory note and to reduce the burden it placed on the shoulders of the Irish people. The effect of that was to reduce the State's cash borrowing requirement by €20 billion over the next ten years. It has reduced the budget deficit by approximately €1 billion per annum over the coming years. We were told it could not be renegotiated but it was renegotiated.

Early in this Government's term we saw renegotiation of other elements of the bailout package including reducing the interest rates, which will save us €10 billion; extending the maturities of EFSF and EFSM loans to up to seven years has yielded significant savings; half of any proceeds from the sale of State assets can be retained and used for job creation; and the cost of bank recapitalisation was reduced by €18.5 billion, limited from an initial €35 billion as per the troika agreement, to €16.5 billion through junior bondholder burden-sharing and securing private capital investment.

I pose a question to the Members opposite. Who are the bondholders they want to burn? They should name them in this House.

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