Colm Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State and wish him well in his new role. I pay tribute to my colleagues who have contributed in a constructive way to the debate.

It is important when considering the issue to reflect on where we have come from. One of the submissions made to the sub-committee on the referendum was by Mr. Jim Power who stated:

The EMU appeared to work well for the first decade, but it has struggled to deal with the first serious crisis to test it, namely, the global dislocation caused by the sub-prime crisis. This crisis has exposed deep flaws in the system. These flaws include: the lack of proper oversight and regulation of the European banking system; the lack of a proper financial architecture, including fiscal federalism and a super-finance ministry with the powers of the US Treasury; a more centralised political structure; a Euro Zone debt agency and Euro Bond issuance; proper rules to impose fiscal discipline; and the lack of focus on economic growth rather than just control of inflation. These flaws have rendered it very difficult for Europe to deal with the current crisis and the very survival of the currency has been brought into sharp focus. Most European policymakers now recognise that it is simply too horrible to contemplate the chaos that would ensue if the second biggest currency bloc in the world were to fall apart.

That is a small extract from his submission but emphasises from where we have come.

In the first decade we did extremely well. There was a lack of control and we as a country suffered. Our Governments have been slow to balance the books every year. Historically, there are two major issues regarding how we manage our economy. It is easier to borrow and continue to grow services without considering that in the future there may be a downturn. That is what has happened in Ireland. We borrowed too much in too short a period of time and are now finding that during an economic downturn it is difficult to make repayments.

We have a budget of over €55 billion this year. On a few occasions I have referred to two key areas, health care and social welfare. Last year we spent €13.4 billion on health care and took in €13.317 billion in income tax. The spend on social welfare was €20 billion. We have had to borrow in order to maintain services over the past 12 months. A lot of people have emphasised the amount of money we have to pay back to the banks as if we do not have to borrow money to maintain services. We continue to borrow to maintain services and it is right that we try to maintain services, but we need to create efficiencies while doing so.

This is about creating stability and making sure there is stability not only in this country but in the other economies to which we are exporting. Ireland exports 80% of what it produces. It is important that the countries to which export continue to be able to import from Ireland. They also have to have stability which is why the treaty is so important. It is extremely important that stability is brought about at an early date.

The evidence of the road we are going down is quite clear. In the last week alone 1,000 new jobs were announced in this country. In my constituency Apple Computers announced the creation of 500 jobs. This has happened because we are part of a bigger global market. We are the only English speaking country in the eurozone and have a major contribution to make. That is why it is important we vote "Yes" on 31 May and make sure we continue to play a big role in the future development of Europe.