Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael)

It is great that so much time is being given to this debate today. I will make a few points in favour of why I believe we need to vote "Yes" for the stability pact. I also want to examine the points that will come up in the "No" campaign, and how they do not really stand up.

My views are framed against the backdrop of Commissioner Olli Rehn's comments yesterday, the timing of which was not good. In the context of the negotiations in which the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, is involved concerning promissory notes, Commissioner Rehn's remarks were most unfortunate. There is a court of public opinion and we all know that the Minister Finance is doing his best. We could have no better man out there to do the job, but the Commissioner's timing was poor and unhelpful. It is not clear that Olli Rehn is aware of the current sensitivities involved.

A "Yes" vote is critical because the treaty will go a long way towards fixing a currently flawed eurozone. The various fiscal policies of the eurozone countries were not close enough to support the currency, but the treaty will remedy this design flaw.

I have listened to quite a few debates on this subject and it is clear that the treaty will not confer any new competencies on Europe - they are already written into the Maastricht treaty - but it will give power to enforce that. We are now part of a euro club and there have to be rules in any club. We know about the rules that apply in GAA clubs or political parties. Entry and exit conditions apply to clubs and we are seeing that now for the first time in the eurozone, although we may not like it. The eurozone was flawed because it did not enforce the conditionality strictly enough on some members before they got in, which was particularly the case with Greece.

The treaty must be passed to allow Ireland to have access to ESM funds in the future. Although it is unlikely that Ireland will need a second bailout, the ESM safety net is needed to reassure those who are willing to invest in Ireland. Why would we cut off our source of funds? We are where we are, as the former Taoiseach, Brian Cowen, kept saying. We know why we are in this position and we know what the other side of the House signed away, but we are now trying to deal with it. We have to pick up those pieces and move on.

It is much better for Ireland to be a party to this treaty than to be the only eurozone country outside it. To remain outside will weaken our influence in Europe. We need the European economy and without the new treaty, our voice will be much weaker on economic issues. Having one eurozone country outside the treaty will weaken the eurozone as a whole, further destabilising the European economy which we need.

We must remember where we are in the world. We are an island nation off the north-west coast of Europe; a small open economy that is reliant on allies to trade. We are not self-sufficient. Our most thriving sector right now is the export industry to Britain, Europe and elsewhere. The Vice President of China, Xi Jinping, did not come here because he loves us. He came here because he sees us as the only English-speaking country in the eurozone that could be China's hand-holder into Europe.

If we exit the euro, we will immediately cut off that linkage. China currently has $3.1 trillion in foreign reserves ready to invest. They want to diversify into other currencies, one of which is the euro.