Tom Shehan (Fine Gael)

That is my point. I do not know who is paying for all the economic academics. I was asked earlier to put this agreement in a nutshell. I replied that the country would be in a bad way without it. Under the proposed changes, it is positive that the management of the IMF will be directly elected. Second, Ireland will benefit by way of an interest rate reduction. Some have given figures of 100 base points, 1%, etc. but I would not quantify any reduction we may receive when the Minister is negotiating on our behalf. A long game is being played in respect of the promissory notes, but some of our more economic minded people and academics appear to be jumping the gun and not waiting for the negotiations to conclude to see the results, rather they are pre-empting the outcome.

Senator Sean D. Barrett made a good point on capital projects, in respect of which Senator Paschal Mooney said there was a deficit. That will be a positive aspect in the long term because, as Senator Sean D. Barrett stated, it will lead to value for money being achieved in such projects. By and large, there is value to be obtained, but many people in every walk of life are still charging above the odds. They have decided that if they do not get the job, so be it, that they will not work for less than a particular rate. That applies to Government projects also. We are all aware that in emergency cases local authorities must buy houses for families and once an auctioneer becomes aware that a house is being purchased for a county council, the price increases. In fairness to Senator Sean D. Barrett, he has previously highlighted the evaluation of capital projects. For years contracts were signed at a certain figure and it was then a case of adding on extras which amounted to more than the initial capital investment. Bad value was obtained in these cases. I do not look on the lack of capital investment this year as something negative because it will lay a pathway for capital investment in the future.

I ask people to keep their powder dry regarding the negotiations on the promissory notes because with the Minister negotiating on behalf of the country I can only see a positive outcome. While this is primarily a technical Bill, it gives effect to the IMF reforms approved in 2010 when the former Minister for Finance was negotiating on our behalf. I see two positives. First, the leaders will be directly elected - it will provide for increased representation for Ireland in that regard - and, second, there will be an interest rate reduction. Therefore, I support the Bill.