Dan Boyle (Green Party)

The reality is that any of the measures one seeks to change will mean the introduction of an alternative measure that has the same effect. I tire of hearing soundbite politics and talk of bailouts to sectoral interests. Exactly the same policies are being instituted in every other country in the western world. The reality is that if we do not have a financial services sector, we will not have an economy. We must ensure there is political, ethical and corporate responsibility, but if we do not repair the collapse that has occurred we cannot have future economic activity in this country. The same measures have been proposed in every other developed country in the world. People might not like the proposal to set up NAMA but the proposal for a nationalised bank, a good bank or a bad bank would result in exactly the same amount of taxpayers money being put at risk. It is not a question of having a better system, it is only a question of having an alternative means to do the same thing at exactly the same risk.

If we are not going to conduct that type of honest politics then the politics of disillusionment will win out. As a glass half-full person I believe we can strive for hope in this country. We have the means within our own population to recover. We still maintain a high level of economic wealth and prosperity. If we use that as the basis of going where we need to go, but by taking a different route - one that is less concerned with the individual and the erosion of community values - then this could be a time not only of introspection but of renewal and self-discovery that we have lacked as a nation in the past.

We can achieve the measures outlined in the Bill, which is only part of the formula we have to use at the moment. We must control public expenditure and invest appropriately in infrastructure that would allow for future activity. Unfortunately, we have to depend on how the international recovery affects our main trading partners. Those elements, if done correctly, will mean that we as a country can prosper. The Bill has been drawn up with the right means in mind and it is following the only policy approach that is open to us as a nation. If other politicians and political parties are honest enough they would accept that the room to manoeuvre and the need to be honest with people means that their approach can be more dangerously wrong than that which is being followed at the moment.