Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

The Minister of State should tell us what is going on. The Government has become unstable and lost the confidence of the people. International investors have abandoned Ireland and there is a crisis of confidence in the European Union regarding the Government's ability to fulfil its mandate. In the same way that lions circle a wounded beast, speculators are circling Ireland's economy and the eurozone. This is coupled with the market's irrational sentiments in times of crisis when the most outrageous rumours run wild across the world. The oscillation of Irish bonds in the past seven months is one reason Ministers need to provide as much information as possible to the people, as well as international bondholders. An Internet search for the phrase "Irish bond traders" will retrieve headlines from news outlets across the world, but the Government was denying anything was afoot as recently as 24 hours ago. That does not instil confidence in the markets. As I may be misinterpreting these events, perhaps the Minister of State might clarify matters.

It seems Mr. Trichet of the European Central Bank and his EU colleagues, including Commissioner Almunia who is responsible for banking and Commissioner Rehn who is responsible for monetary affairs, are trying to restructure Ireland's debts. It seems they want to move some of the billions of euro the European Central Bank has loaned us to the stabilisation fund and thereby take responsibility for some of this money. I do not know whether the relevant figure is €40 billion, €50 billion or €60 billion. Perhaps, to reduce the cost of borrowings by international investors, it will be possible to create an overdraft for the State using the stabilisation fund. If we had such an overdraft facility fixed at a specific rate - perhaps 4%, 4.5% or 5% - we might have an opportunity to tell the international bond markets to stuff it when they try to play games with the economy and the eurozone as a whole.

The Government needs to engage in a discussion on the purpose of what we are doing here and the role we hope to fulfil. There is no point in the Minister bluffing by saying we have enough money until next year. The reality is that in the next three years we will need to gain at least €40 billion for the public finances. I am not sure exactly how much money will be needed to complete the bailout of the banks. Where will the Government find that money? There is no point in it telling us it has enough money until next June. We need to know from where it will get money in June 2013, not June 2011. The Government is brushing over this issue as if it was not relevant. When one considers the amount of money we have borrowed, it is massively relevant.

We are trying to play home politics with the economy. The reality is that this is a much bigger issue than politics at home. It is a question of what the European Union will do for Ireland as one of its partners, how we will work with it, how we will calm international investors and how we will actively deal with those who are speculating on what will happen to the economy and the euro. Greater clarity is needed. We do not need the Minister to treat us like children. He seems to believe he knows best on what is going on. This problem has been brewing for a while. When the Governor of the Central Bank, Professor Patrick Honohan, went to Hong Kong on 16 August, he got a fright when he found out how Ireland was perceived among international bondholders. Very little has been done to alleviate the fears and concerns of international investors or improve their perception of what is happening in Ireland.

We face many problems as we decide what the extent of the bailout should be and on what should happen here. There is no point in denying serious discussions are taking place about how we can restructure our debt. Many of these problems were obvious in the last couple of months, but the Government, to its eternal shame, refused to accept this or move quickly enough to deal with them. I do not think there is anything wrong with the economy. The fundamentals are very sound. We are making painful adjustments to our lifestyles and quality of life and will make tougher adjustments in the next couple of years.

There is a need for the Government to engage with the European Union and tell citizens exactly what is going on. There is huge fear because of the lack of information. The counter-productive statements made by Ministers in recent days have added to the confusion of the public and have done nothing to help us get out of the crisis. There is a need for somebody to spell out what is being considered. Perhaps the Minister of State believes he is not in a position to do so. We need some indication of what the European Union is looking for. We have to restore the confidence of the people that the Government is doing the right thing in their interests. It will take a little longer, however, to restore the confidence of international investors. If we work with our EU partners now in a constructive and positive way, it will help us in the next couple of years.