Larry Butler (Fianna Fail)

It is important that when we achieve success on the international markets we mention it in this House. I am delighted that 85% of our bonds were sold internationally. This was revealed in the latest Davy report. Some Members of the House have criticised the Government about how it has been handling the finances of this country. When we do something right it is important that Members say so.

It is also important to bear in mind that the Minister for Finance has been doing a very fine job in this regard. He can be proud today of the fact that only 60% of bonds generally have been sold internationally while 85% of our bonds have been sold. Greece is the only country which has sold more bonds, having sold 87% of its bonds. It also puts it up to Standard & Poor's which has been downgrading our credit rating. The international market effectively is saying that Ireland is a sound place. That is because of the policies we have implemented in our banking sector and because we have not allowed our banks to fail. That is why we are a good bet creditwise. That is important to bear in mind when we discuss the IMF report later. It is timely that the Davy report was published at this time. It is important that some Members on the other side of the House would read it because it makes very good reading.