Dan Boyle (Green Party)

Ratings agencies have had an overall malign influence on the state of the international economy in recent years. In Ireland we have suffered recently from what seems to have been a self-fulfilling prophecy of negative reviews from ratings agencies, yet today there is a positive indication from one such agency, Standard & Poor's, to the effect that our economic situation can be resolved in the short term, and if the necessary action is taken, this can be achieved more quickly than in other economies in Europe.

I am not surprised that this has gone unmentioned by the Opposition. I suspect that if a commentary to the contrary were on offer from Standard & Poor's, we would hear all about it. If we are discussing the lack of consensus and the need for such a debate in this House, we should start by having a common approach to the international commentary on how Ireland is perceived in terms of its economy and its politics.