Conor Lenihan (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

There is a certain euroscepticism that is not only healthy but positively believed in the British capital that also makes good paying sense for hedge fund operators in that part of the world. When I lived there in the 1980s, I saw at first hand bond market and currency market operators making the most of their anti-European principles while making it a paying proposition from their own perspective of shorting the market or a currency. I would not take my views from them or from Joe Higgins on these matters.

We have bound ourselves to the European project and to a great extent, there is nothing we can do about that, short of the exit from the euro currency recommended by some people, a course of action I do not endorse; it would be most ill-advised. When David McWilliams urges that in his columns, it is the formal logic of the sort of scepticism expressed by Senator Ross. Most mainstream parties in this House would not suggest an export-led economy such as ours should leave behind one of its greatest benefits, that is, membership of a common currency. A common currency inflicts pain in difficult times, such as when hostile rate movements make it more difficult for us to trade, particularly with our nearest neighbour and largest trading partner, the United Kingdom.

Following sharp contraction over the past two years, let us welcome the fact that the latest data suggest the level of activity in the Irish economy has stabilised and that the Department of Finance now expects GDP growth of 1.7% this year and average growth of 3% over the period 2012-14. There is a strong consensus that growth will primarily be driven by the export sector over this period.

Our export performance in recent years has shown considerable resilience. In order to capitalise on the strength of this sector, the Government launched a new integrated strategy for the promotion of overseas trade, tourism and investment - Trading and Investing in a Smart Economy. It was launched last autumn and suggests that by providing the framework to maximise the potential for increased exports, tourism and investment, we can support well-paying jobs at home. It points to a series of reports and recommendations made to the Government by agencies and independent bodies suggesting we must go up the value chain. This proverbial value chain, which we must now climb against a background of international and domestic recession, is one we would have had to climb irrespective of whether there was a recession. It is important to execute this move much more quickly in the current climate.

It is important to emphasise that many of the jargon words associated with the smart economy tend to alienate people from the core concept. I do not like using the phrase "smart economy" and prefer to use "productive economy".

On foot of all the reports and our strategy, we are making an investment to exit recession. We are moving towards growing productivity in small and medium-sized firms. We are helping to make the operating environment more competitive for multinationals, which are present in great number and which must pay salaries that traditionally were higher than those paid elsewhere. We have addressed many of the issues in the past two years.

One of the achievements of the Government and the country – I hate to keep boasting on behalf of the Government - is that companies, managers, factory floor workers and staff in offices have made the necessary adjustments willingly in order to retain and safeguard jobs and to make companies and communities more competitive. There is a push-pull factor in terms of people's reason for making the adjustment. The people have made a remarkable adjustment in response to the very sudden recession, which was caused predominantly by an international banking collapse in our case.