Verona Murphy (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The relevance is that we need measures other than anti-counterfeiting measures to protect the currency. I have not departed from the subject matter much, if the Acting Chairman does not mind.

The people of this country have paid a heavy and enduring price for the Government's mistakes. I can hear the story of the elephant and the fly ringing in my ears. Those who put one in the dung are not always one's enemy and those who take one out of it are not always one's friend.

While I will support the Bill, I want the Government to enact legislation to ensure we deal effectively with criminals who produce counterfeit currencies and to recognise the damage it causes. However, I do not want that nearly as much as I want it to deal with those who seem to think they are not responsible for recreating ill feelings that Ireland as a nation took 20 years to suppress. They may attribute this to safeguarding the EU’s share of the vaccine but long after the Covid vaccine has been rolled out, we will live with the effects of the EU’s mindless action of invoking Article 16, just as we live with the so-called bailout, generation after generation.

We hear daily from the Government that we have teething problems with regard to Brexit and that it is confident these will be resolved.

On many occasions I have rebuffed its confidence. It has been misinformed by those responsible for the incompetence of delivering seamless operations from customs, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and others. Instead the Government's failure to listen attentively to those who are experiencing trade devastation daily means that it takes no action except to say that Brexit is not of its making. This inaction will have a far more devastating effect than any counterfeit currency could have on this country.

I can only hope that the Government took note of the unfortunate announcement by Wilker Auto Conversions in County Offaly that it must lay off 80 of its 100 staff. In simple maths 80% of the workforce has been laid off. This scenario will be replicated tenfold. That is not me wishing to scaremonger. That is the reality which is being masked by the fact that the Government has the country in level 5 lockdown. The construction sector is not purchasing supplies nor are the many businesses regarded as non-essential. When Government decides it will open up the country for people to return to work, we will then see the true levels of the inaction and all that remains is what are whom it will blame. The "B" word for bailout and the accompanying loss of economic independence, just as the "V" word may well see the loss of peace on the island, but the "I" word for inaction is the most detrimental of all. Every one of us on the island deserves better.

The Bill is a good move, but we must not lose the plums in the duff by neglecting matters in need of urgent attention. We need mechanisms that safeguard our economy from damaging impulsive decisions such as those taken by powerful EU figures, such as Ursula von der Leyen and Jean Claude Trichet.

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