Martin Conway (Fine Gael)

The Irish people realise that. I wished to put that on record.

This is an extremely important treaty from an Irish perspective. Senator Mulcahy and others have dealt with the fact that we are spending €50 billion while taking in €36 billion. I wish to talk about confidence and our reputation abroad. Work has been done, in particular in the past 12 months by the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and other Ministers to restore the reputation of this country abroad. Our reputation was in tatters. When people spoke about Greece they referred almost instantaneously to Ireland after that. If one googled newspaper articles 18 months ago such as The New York Times or newspapers in Germany and as far away as Australia, Greece was the first word and Ireland was next. A difficult sales job was required to be done internationally to at least steady the Irish ship and the Irish reputation. Thankfully, that has been achieved. Now, this country is regarded as one that continues to take its responsibilities seriously. We are endeavouring to rectify the situation to correct the overspending that has taken place. We have cut away a lot of the fat. We have reduced numbers in the public service, turned things around and tried our level best to comply with all elements of the troika deal. We have succeeded in that regard. Every time the troika has done a review on our performance for the previous three months we have met the criteria. That has given us flexibility to negotiate a stimulus package, which is what we want.

I heard an extremely good interview this morning on "Morning Ireland" with the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin. It was one of the best interviews I have heard in a long time in terms of the confidence he has and how he proposes to deal with the State assets to leverage money and be in a position to build the primary health care units and schools we need and to invest in vital elements of infrastructure in this country which will ensure that the construction sector can get a kick start. A vibrant construction industry is as vital to this country as any other industry.

In terms of the work that has been done in the past 18 months to restore our international reputation, if we turn around and reject the treaty we will be seen internationally as having chosen to kick Europe which has been so good to us. We will be seen as a country that is on the outside tier – that is allowed into the bar and the restaurant but cannot play the course. We do not need that. Just when the work has been done to improve our reputation and ensure there is respect for us internationally again the last thing we as a nation need to do is turn around and dismantle it because if we do it will be at our peril. A resounding "Yes" vote will ensure that we will benefit from the work that has been done internationally. In effect, the cream will come to the top. On 1 June we will be able to look all of our European colleagues in the eye and say that we are a central part of the European project. Our voice will be heard and respected. We can ensure that as a country we will play a pivotal, strong and influential role within the European project. We have always punched above our weight in the past and we can ensure that is the case by endorsing the treaty resoundingly.

I do not know what plan B is if the approach we are taking does not work. I have listened to the "No" side and I note that Deputy Wallace in the other House acknowledged the fact that the "No" vote is divided all over the place; that there is no coherence to its argument and no effective campaign. The reason for that is that there is no other option. We created the mess we are in over the past decade. We are lucky that we have friends who are prepared to help us out. The last thing we need to do is eliminate any source of funding. We must have access to every possible source of funding available. The ESM model is a good one. It is an insurance policy. I accept the description has been used previously but to bring it down to a common sense level; one insures a house. If one does not insure the house, one is being reckless. One pays a small amount of insurance to ensure that when something does go wrong with the house that one can make a claim. The ESM is precisely the same. I accept we will contribute to the ESM but if and when we get into trouble again – let us hope we do not – at least we will be in a position to draw from that source of funding. If we are limited to one source of funding – there are no guarantees that the IMF will lend to us, but if it does, it will dictate the terms. It would be preferable to have a choice. If we have played our part and bought into the stability mechanism then we will have a choice.

In terms of job creation it is worth noting that ten years ago there were 1.5 million people working in this country. In the height of the boom the number increased to 2.2 million. However, there are still 1.8 million people working in this country. That is 300,000 people more than were working in the late 1990s. That is a point to consider. It is not all doom and gloom and we must recognise that. The Government's target of creating in excess of 100,000 jobs is doable. Confidence is returning. If we endorse the treaty, confidence and belief in this country will continue to flow back. We will see foreign direct investment. If one had €100 million and one was looking to create a European headquarters one would wait to see the outcome of the treaty before investing in this country. The last thing one would do is invest money in a country that has opted to be on the outside track. Anyone with such an amount of money to invest from the United States or China, among other countries, would decide to wait and see. They want to do business with a country that is at the centre and the core of the European project.

I will campaign between now and 31 May for a "Yes" vote. Whatever side of the argument we are on, as parliamentarians we have a responsibility to explain to as many people as possible why we want them to vote "Yes". I commend the treaty. I sincerely hope the Irish people do the right thing.