Larry Butler (Fianna Fail)

I agree with much of what Senator Donohoe said. If we start bailing out one country, we will find ourselves bailing out more. Greece has not faced up to its responsibilities and commitments within the European Union, which is a serious problem. When a country joins the European Union it must consider what its budget deficit will be, how it will manage it and so forth. I do not believe the Greek Government has done enough. It did not take responsibility for its budgets and now we see the consequences of that, namely, the European Union has said it cannot allow any country in the European Union to fail, including Greece which is one of the first countries to get into trouble.

We found ourselves in trouble two years ago. I did not see anybody jumping up and down to save this economy or propose how we would rescue the banks. We were criticised by the European Union and Britain when we developed what were extremely good proposals to rescue the banks and the manner in which we tackled our budgetary situation over three budgets. Some €8 billion in spending reductions was achieved over three budgets, which is what I call taking responsibility for running a country. I do not believe this happened in Greece.

Europe needs to examine the economic plan it has in place when there is a downturn, which plan is lacking in the single currency community. There was no plan in place to deal with a downturn in any country. Strong countries such as Germany, France and Britain felt the pinch during the downturn. A recovery is coming in Europe. This issue puts us in real danger. We have taken extremely strong measures. If other countries in the European Union do not live up to their responsibilities, we have a major problem. It will not be just Ireland, Britain or any other country.

The IMF will be merciless if it decides to come in, and the Greeks will be told 4% is no longer enough and cuts of 28% to 30% are required. We faced such a possibility two years ago. In the future, European countries will have to structure a new policy to ensure there is stability and increased monitoring of countries which are running into trouble. Before they are in trouble, there should be a yardstick to indicate there is a serious problem which the country concerned has to correct, and it would be better to do it immediately than in two years' time. This seems to be the problem in terms of how the Greek Government runs its country. I do not want to be critical of anyone. We have all had our own problems. In this country we have had major problems in the banking and building sectors as well as a downturn in the world economy. They have created major difficulties for us.

In terms of our situation regarding the banks, it is time we put in place a plan for our banking system if the banks have not yet done so. We nationalised Anglo Irish Bank. I have seen indications that it will be able to produce a plan soon. This should be aimed at lending to small and medium-sized businesses and export businesses. It is an opportunity. We own the bank and it is time we produced the goods. We have owned it for a year and a half. I ask the Minister of State to examine the matter. It is vital.

I do not subscribe to the view that we must make credit available across the whole banking system because the problem was that the banks lent too much and for bad business reasons. We are now suffering the consequences and have had to bail them out. We should ensure it never happens again. If we learn anything, we should ensure that banks do not lend too much again and, instead, lend money correctly, that is, to businesses and people who can pay them back.

The question that arises concerns what policies will be put in place regarding Greece, Portugal, Spain and Ireland to ensure there is support. If that is the policy, let us have it and see how it will work. If we are in the business of bailing out different countries, it will not work and will reduce the strength of the currency. An exporting company would be delighted to see the euro weaker than the dollar and various other currencies.