Thomas Byrne (Fianna Fail)

I will tell the Senator why I am supporting it. However, the particular issue to which I referred needs to be addressed. I have no difficulty with the fiscal measures in this treaty because they need to be place as we are already subject to a pretty severe programme of adjustment and this will need to be continued even if we are not with the IMF in the future in order to put our own budgetary house in order. The measures in the treaty are reasonable and our membership of the eurozone requires some concession on the part of the country and we have already given plenty of give, so to speak. However, considering the crisis, we have to acknowledge that we must play our part in keeping the euro on track. It is our currency and we are as entitled as anyone to keep it on track. Unfortunately this requires these measures to be implemented and they would be required anyway no matter what the currency. We are not taking in enough money and we are being funded by outsiders on whom we depend. I regard the conditionality clause as a blackmail clause from the donors' point of view but in our case we must face the reality that if we require additional funding in the future we must ensure that such funding is in place. No one has yet successfully answered the question of where we will get the money if the funding is not forthcoming. I do not speak on behalf of German taxpayers but it is a reasonable question for them to ask what conditions are in place before they would agree to loan us the money. The Sinn Féin attitude seems to be, "Take the money and run" and this attitude goes a long way back.