Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

We are putting the firewall in place and it will happen.

It is a genuine criticism that up until now, where solutions have been found, they have not been implemented. One could argue we are putting the firewall in place and that we have the fiscal treaty in place. The latter sends a very important signal on all the issues Senator Sean Barrett raised in regard to his fiscal responsibility Bill, the debt brake and the clear view on bringing deficit budgeting to an end. However, we have been very slow to react to these events. We have been behind the curve, as some Senators stated and I very much agree with them. That is why it is crucial for a small, open economy such as Ireland which does not have much leverage or room for manoeuvre to implement the various measures proposed as quickly as possible to obtain the certainty required to put our house in order.

There has been an air of despondency in the House today, which I can understand given the crisis we face, but it must be noted that the position we face is better than the one we faced last year. Our bank recapitalisation plan has been a success in that not only have we had tier capital ratios significantly higher than those of other countries, our banks are also better capitalised than Swiss banks. We have also saved a lot of money.