John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

Again, unfortunately, we have the impression from the Opposition that circumstances are much worse than they are. To say that Ireland failed to borrow from international lenders is wrong. We did not attempt to seek international funding. We went to the Europeans first. That is a misrepresentation.

A further misrepresentation, which I hope ends in the media, is the benchmarking of Irish bonds against Germany. One might as well benchmark us against Switzerland or the Japanese yen. The people we should be benchmarked against are the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Greeks and the Italians, which are also peripheral countries.

I support those who would remember the ending of the First World War. It is an important date. While the Irish fought in Europe against German imperialism, they also fought at home against British imperialism and, thankfully, freedom won out in the end. It is a great credit to President Woodrow Wilson who fought for the rights of small nations. He was one of the main reasons we eventually received our own independence and, of course, achieved the successful conclusion of that war.