Anne Ferris (Wicklow, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There has been a great deal of discussion about Ireland progressing beyond the bailout. For the Government to have regained Ireland's independence from troika oversight last December has been to take a firm step on the road to recovery. A year-on-year job creation rate of 61,000 jobs is certainly a step on the road to recovery also. Wiping €40 billion off debt repayment over the next 20 years is also a stage on the road to recovery. The State's share of Ireland's massive bailout debt is more than €200 billion. The repayments on borrowings alone will take €8 billion from the pockets of Irish people this year.

The reason for the cuts and the pain and distress in people's everyday lives is that large amounts of money must be removed from the economy every year in the post-bailout period solely to service debt. While Ireland is on the road to recovery and in a much better place now than it was in January 2011, the great shame is that this country of hard-working people needed a bailout in the first place.

On any long road it is sometimes valuable to look backwards and ask how one got to this point. I propose to return to June 2005 for a moment. Even then, when the economy appeared to be strong, there were signs that all was not well. According to the Central Statistics Office, in 2005 Ireland had the highest construction output per capitaof any European country and twice the construction output of the United Kingdom. One in eight people was employed in construction, which was 50% higher than the European average, and we had the highest rate of residential building in the European Union. The State received €2 billion in stamp duty revenue from property transactions in 2005, a threefold growth in three years, and the total value of mortgage debt increased sixfold from €33 billion to €200 billion in the previous three years. While the value of the average new mortgage in 2000 stood at approximately €100,000, by 2005 the figure had doubled to €200,000, with one third of all homes costing more than €300,000. The property market was showing all the danger signs associated with a bubble, which is what transpired.

Where was the Fianna Fáil-led Government in June 2005? What was it doing to avert impending catastrophe? Its members were playing golf at the K Club. In June 2005, the K Club hosted the fifth annual US-Ireland Alliance Golf Challenge. Most of the Irish team are now household names, albeit not on the basis of their golfing skills. The team that played for Ireland included Peter Butler, group head of banking in Anglo Irish Bank; David Drumm, chief executive of Anglo Irish Bank; then Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Cowen; Laurence Crowley, governor of Bank of Ireland; Bernard McNamara, former Fianna Fáil Party councillor turned billionaire property developer; and Derek Quinlan, former tax inspector turned billionaire property developer. That night, at a gala dinner in Dublin, the golfing prizes were presented to the winning team by the Fianna Fáil Party's current leader, Deputy Micheál Martin. The Irish team won the trophy and Ireland, specifically its pensioners, young people and families with inflated mortgages and those who have lost homes, jobs and security, continues to pay the price.

In light of what Fianna Fáil had reduced the country to by the time the troika arrived with its bailout, the progress this Government has achieved in steering the country to recovery is nothing short of a modern miracle. People have endured too many sacrifices to repay the cost of the poisoned chalice presented by Deputy Martin to his golfing buddies in 2005. It has taken considerable effort to turn the corner towards recovery. As we look forward beyond the bailout, it is right and proper, therefore, that we cast a glance back along the road we have travelled since 2011. In doing so, we must ensure we never return that way again.

On the Order of Business yesterday, Deputy Martin queried the reason for arranging this debate this week given that statements had been made on this issue last week. The reason for this debate is to ensure the Fianna Fáil Party does not forget that it caused the mess in which we find ourselves.

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