Caít Keane (Fine Gael)

Tá mé ag ceapadh gurbh í seo an díospóireacht is tábhachtaí sa Teach seo agus an conradh is tábhachtaí le cur os comhair mhuintir na hÉireann i mbliana. Ós rud é go bhfuil Seachtain na Gaeilge ann, déarfaidh abairt amháin as Gaeilge.

It is a very important treaty. Since the Government took office, we have taken every opportunity to seek ways to reduce the debt. People who link the debt burden with the treaty are way off the mark. This is an ongoing process. Ireland is demonstrating it can deliver on its programme and wants to get beyond the current difficulties but we must be careful not to link the two.

The choice facing us in the referendum on the European stability treaty is whether we build on what we have achieved or step backwards. The treaty is an important part of the solution to our difficulties and an essential building block in our economic recovery. However, it is not the solution and nobody is claiming it is. The treaty concept is not new. The eurozone has been part of the Stability and Growth Pact since 1996 and that pact was revised in 2005. While Governments may have chosen to ignore it or chosen to buy elections or spend money, we all have to cut our cloth according to the size. The fact Governments did not do that up to now is something every country must be ashamed of, particularly Germany and France as well as Ireland. Everybody is in it; we are not on our own.

Ireland's is a small and open economy. Our jobs and our living standards are dependent on what we make and sell to others. Our prosperity depends on the stability and prosperity of others, including the stability and prosperity of the eurozone countries. The euro is not an abstract concept. It is the money we are spending every day. It is a fact that what is good for stability in Europe is good for Ireland. I note it is called the "stability" pact because it is about stability.

Twelve months ago, Ireland was stuck in a profound economic and political crisis but the Government has got to grips with the problem. We have brought about greater fairness and stability, and we have worked hard to restore Ireland's reputation abroad. We are succeeding in our task. To make further progress, however, we need the instability in Europe to quieten down.

Senator Norris referred to Spain and how it has signed up to the treaty and then immediately ignored it. I remind Senator Norris that Spain is not in a bailout; it is borrowing on the open market whereas we are borrowing from Europe. What is wrong with the debate on the treaty is that everybody comes up with the solution that we should not pay but nobody, including Senator Norris and Senator Barrett, suggests where we will get the money. We cannot borrow on the open market and we are dependent on Europe. That is the difference between Spain and Ireland. I am sorry Senator Norris conveniently forgot this because I am quite sure he knows that Spain is not in a bailout programme.

We know that in order to get a bank mortgage on a person's home, that home has to be protected by insurance. In the same way, Ireland will find it easier to attract the international investment we need for jobs and recovery if we are protected by the rescue fund. The fault when the euro was devised was pointed out by Senator Barrett. I ask him whether he wants to go back in history and go back to again devising the euro. Of course, mistakes were made, and anybody looking at the euro today knows it should not have been devised in the way it was. This treaty is not about that. Whatever about Senator Barrett bringing that into the debate now, we should have and will have a discussion on how the euro was devised, how it should be devised and how we can make it a better euro, working in the European economy.

We need a "Yes" vote. It will protect the euros all of us have in our back pockets. It means more investment and less austerity. If we vote "No" we will be locked out of the European Stability Mechanism and where will we get the money?