Ivana Bacik (Independent)

I echo the praise of my colleagues for those who are contributing to their communities during this terrible weather and who are keeping essential public services running. We all hope we will get through the weather crisis, if not the financial crisis, within the next few days.

While I welcome the debate we will have later today on the content of the EU-IMF programme, we also need a debate on alternatives to the programme. We have all received a copy of the programme document and a number of issues stood out for me when wading through it. First is the appalling vista it presents for ordinary people in terms of the cutbacks envisaged. Second was the acceptance, as mentioned on the first page of the document, that the domestic banking system is at the root of the problem. I believe we need to focus a debate, perhaps next week, on the alternatives to this programme. The Government has been selling us a line that there is no alternative to this package, but a considerable body of opinion suggests there are alternatives and that we should look seriously at those alternatives.

Deputy Rabbitte has suggested that this agreement constitutes a legal international agreement under Article 29 of the Constitution that will require a Dáil vote. I think he is right on that. If the courts do not accept that, future Governments are not legally bound in the same way as if the document had the status suggested. There are issues with regard to the status of the document.

There are also issues with regard to what happens next. I have seen a very bleak commentary from Barry Eichengreen from Berkeley, a well-respected economist, that suggests this package is a disaster and that the programme solves nothing but simply kicks the can down the road. His words have been echoed by Wolfgang Münchau in the Financial Times today, suggesting that default is the preferable option. He says that the right answer to insolvency is default, not liquidity support. Therefore, there are a number of alternatives we need to explore in any debate in the House. Perhaps today we will focus on the content of this document, but we also need to look seriously at the alternatives. We should not necessarily buy the Government's line that there are no alternatives. The Labour Party offers an alternative approach to the front-loading of the cutbacks and the €6 billion the Government envisages cutting in next week's budget.