Sean Barrett (Independent)

I echo Senator O'Brien's thanks to the Minister for his response to the issues raised. The term "eurosceptic" is an issue. There should be two definitions for that term. One should relate to being eurosceptic with regard to the currency - I am in that category - and the other to being eurosceptic with regard to the European Union. I am not in that category but we must distinguish between the two.

The Union operated successfully between 1955 and 1999 and it could go back to that. The definition still holds in Scandinavia and the UK. As everybody has said, we need to strengthen economic policymaking in this country. It is critical and the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform and their Minsters of State know they have the support of the House in doing that.

I refer to the retrieval of sovereignty. It is somewhat remarkable that for a county that spent so many years achieving sovereignty, it was all given away on 1 December last. As we pass the portraits of the great men who achieved independence for this country in the hall as we enter Leinster House, we must pay attention to that again. Ireland is damaged when people on this island transfer powers to Westminster in the case of Northern Ireland or to Brussels in the case of the Republic of Ireland. There are two kinds of unionists. I look askance at Northern Ireland Unionists for transferring powers to Westminster and European unionists here who transferred powers to Brussels unthinkingly.

Joining the currency with all its flaws while knowing the UK would not do so did nothing for Irish trade. EU member states only account for 31% of our trade, although we save on transactions. However, this precipitated a disastrous exercise in Ireland by German and French banks and today we are tidying up more of the mess while also dealing with the domestic banking collapse. Some thought should have been given to whether we wanted massive capital inflows used for speculation, financial intermediation and property prices. It was inevitable that a small economy such as ours would not be able to take that inflow of capital, even though people still utter clichés about how valuable is foreign direct investment. It is not if it goes to the wrong sectors. We conducted that experiment and the result has been a disaster.

One does not repeatedly conduct a science experiment and blow up the laboratory. Ireland will be a leader regarding fundamental reforms in how public business is conducted and public expenditure is appraised and in adopting a sensible approach to investment rather than a casino approach because we have suffered more than anyone else. That is why the public elected us. As the Minister for Education and Skills pointed out, the greatest ever change in any European democracy occurred in this year's general election. It demands that we invent a new style of governance, which will be superior to much of the problem the Minister of State has brought to our attention today.