Michael Mullins (Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to make a statement in the aftermath of the recent referendum on the Thirtieth Amendment of the Constitution. All Members - certainly those on this side of the House – welcome the outcome of the referendum. I acknowledge the efforts of the Government parties which campaigned very strongly for a "Yes" vote, as well as the strong support of Fianna Fáil during the course of the campaign to ensure a result that would be in the country's best interests. I must single out the directors of elections who did a tremendous job - the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Simon Coveney, for Fine Gael, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, for the Labour Party and Deputy Timmy Dooley for Fianna Fáil. I also recognise the tremendous work done by the Minister of State with responsibility for European Affairs, Deputy Lucinda Creighton, who impressed and convinced the people to vote "Yes" in the referendum. They rejected in an emphatic way the negative "No" campaign which wished to make it a referendum about everything but not what it was supposed to be about. I am pleased the people have taken a positive step in keeping our focus on the economy and ensuring a sustainable track to recovery. I am glad they responded to the hard-fought campaign for several weeks. By endorsing the stability treaty, a crucial part of the jigsaw has been put in place as we rebuild a working Ireland. The result will help to bring about the certainty needed for recovery and growth.

The "Yes" vote represents a positive move by Ireland on several fronts. We are sending a strong message to international investors that Ireland is a sound and solid economy in which to invest and create jobs. Thousands of jobs have been created since the beginning of the year, 1,200 of them in County Galway, a fact with which I am pleased. The result of the referendum will help us to maintain this stream of investment. With 445,000 people unemployed, we need to keep the emphasis on job creation and attract foreign direct investment.

The other issue which arose during the campaign was whether Ireland would have access to other funds at the end of 2013. We now have the security and certainty of knowing that, in the event of us needing additional emergency funding, it will be available to us and that we will be in a position to pay doctors, teachers and nurses in the years ahead. The stability treaty will ensure future Governments, irrespective of which parties are in power, will have to adhere to sensible budgeting rules, which is in our best interests. As we gradually reduce our debt levels in the next few years, we will have more money to spend on public services such as schools and hospitals.

Addressing our debt levels was the main issue in the campaign. The Government will continue to ensure any proposal advanced at EU level will be in Ireland's interests as well as those of the European Union. We will be watching developments in Spain, while the elections in Greece this weekend could have serious implications for the euro and the eurozone. The Government will strongly support any proposal which will help to ease Ireland and Europe's debt crisis. It has stated the need to break the link between bank and sovereign debt, a key element of our banking strategy. It has actively proposed this approach at European summits. Throughout 2011 the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, set out his position at and after ECOFIN meetings that the ESM, European Stability Mechanism, or other European funds should be directly investing capital in banks in return for equity.

We have also pointed to the obvious benefits of an EU level approach to bank recapitalisation as not impacting on the general government debt of member states. Members will be aware that the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, has stated there needs to be a separation of banks and state in the provision of assistance, which is a welcome approach. The outcome of the recent referendum has strengthened the Government's hand when it comes to these discussions and negotiations. Members will appreciate why the Taoiseach at times cannot be overly forthcoming on some of the negotiations at both ministerial and official level.