Feargal Quinn (Independent)

That is happening. This stability treaty tells us that during the good times the EU wants us to allocate some money for the rainy day, but during the tough times it will allow us to borrow. What it and we do not want to do is to find ourselves in a situation where we have no banker, have thrown the key of the bank away and have no chance to go back. It is essential that during the tough times, and we will have tough times for another couple of years, we can borrow again.

This is an extremely important time, and I am referring to today, given the renewed crisis in Greece. I have been watching what is happening there. It would be a mistake to go backwards by postponing or rejecting the treaty. It is not the time for procrastination. It is time for action. We must do something and the one thing we must not do is throw away that bank key. Passing the treaty will be another step for Ireland to demonstrate clearly that it is a country of action and not just of words. Two years ago not many would have predicted that we could have a stable economy and return to significant export growth in such a short period. It has been so interesting in recent times to hear what others in Europe are saying about Ireland. Now they are asking how we got it so right again so quickly when others are not doing it.

We have been distanced from Greece and even Portugal because of the steps we have taken. Spain is now experiencing major difficulties. The heat is on. One of Spain's bigger banks is seeking to be bailed out. It could be argued that the worst of our banking crisis is over. I am not sure if that is the case but it is not over in Spain and that country appears to be too big to bail out. The Nobel Prize winner, Paul Krugman, who writes for The Irish Times and The New York Times, has said that a Greek exit from the euro is "very possible next month".