Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)

This must be balanced with its importance in allowing business to invest in expansion and broadening our export markets through increasing their ability to do business. The EU and the ECB have provided a lifeline to our financial system during this once in a century financial crisis. There may be criticism of the ECB policy but it cannot be disputed that, without the support of the ECB, our deposits in our banks would have been at risk. Without the steadfast support of the ECB, our financial system would have collapsed.

The Government, working with the ECB and the European Commission, is trying to repair and reform our banking system. The Government's actions have yielded significant achievements. There is over €1.7 billion of private sector investment in Bank of Ireland, there has been burden sharing with unsubordinated bondholders yielding savings of over €5.2 billion and in the past four months Irish banks have raised €6.7 billion of term funding without the benefit of the State guarantee.

The negative consequences of a withdrawal from the euro are alarming. All serious financial and economic experts acknowledge that leaving the euro is not a realistic option. Ireland is an open economy, exporting 100% of GDP and importing 80% of GDP. Leaving the euro would make imports, which exporters and households use, much more expensive to purchase and this would have a negative effect on citizens' quality of life. Many foreign companies based in Ireland, who are supporting 250,000 jobs, would have concerns if we were to leave the euro. Ireland would be a less attractive option for them. The consequences of the euro breaking up would mean a scarcity of funding for our banks. At present, investors are flocking to global currencies. The demand for a new currency would likely to be extremely low.

The introduction of a new currency would impose significant costs on exporting industries with no associated increase in potential markets. We all have a vested interest in getting this crisis resolved as a matter of urgency. Experts and commentators and the wider public are extremely concerned about how we will ease the burden on Ireland. I welcome the Taoiseach's correspondence with his counterparts, saying that the people of Ireland plainly expect action to restore the stability of the eurozone and reinforce Ireland's prospects of regaining economic sovereignty.

We have a major challenge ahead of us. For most people this is a critical time and they are worried about their savings, unemployment levels, the economy nationally and across the eurozone.

I wish the Minister of State well in what she is trying to achieve and thank her for the presentation this morning that clarifies what happened at the European Council meeting in Brussels on 9 December. I look forward to more discussions with the Minister of State and other Members of Government in the Seanad in the coming months.