Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

Ar son Pháirtí Fhianna Fáil, cuirim fáilte roimh an Taoiseach go dtí an Seanad. Ba mhaith liom freisin comhghairdeas a ghabháil leis as a phost mar Taoiseach. I thank the Taoiseach for taking the time to come to the House today to set out in some detail how we are approaching the crisis in Europe and looking to the future as to how Ireland will deal with the EU Presidency. We must look forward, but I would also like to look back with regard to a number of items raised by the Taoiseach. Significantly, the Taoiseach mentioned the Union had no emergency tools available to it when the crisis began, and this was the biggest flaw in the EU. This in itself leads me to state the previous Government stood alone in Europe when the banking crisis happened and it was very restricted in the options it had.

The Taoiseach also stated Ireland would be at a disadvantage for having taken the steps necessary to secure our banking system in the interests of our economy and in the wider European interests before new arrangements applied. This is with regard to the Taoiseach's ongoing negotiations to secure a better deal. I agree with the Taoiseach but it is a clear acknowledgement from him and the Government that it was in the interests of Ireland that very difficult decisions - which can be criticised now and rightly so and which can be discussed properly - were taken not only in the interests of Ireland but in the wider interests of Europe. Ireland should be rewarded for doing this because, as the Taoiseach well knows, our unemployment rate is the highest it has been in 20 years, standing at 14.9%, and according to a recent report 1.8 million people in the country have less than €100 a month in disposable income. These are the challenges the Taoiseach, the Government and the Oireachtas face in trying to get a better deal for our citizens to ensure their quality of life improves. The Taoiseach made two very significant statements. I find it difficult to marry them with a comment he made that our reputation has been tarnished in recent years. This canard about attendance at EU meetings and so on has been put to us on number of occasions. Independent reports, such as the Gothenburg report, do not bear testament to that in terms of the attendance of Irish Ministers from the previous Administration. That is in the past and we should leave it aside.

I congratulate the Taoiseach on the passing of the recent EU fiscal treaty referendum. Again, I commend the people on making the right decision. My party, as a pro-European party, and my party leader, Deputy Micheál Martin, tried to play a positive role in it, which the Taoiseach acknowledged. I welcome very much that the Taoiseach is looking for input into the theme and the thrust of our EU Presidency and that he will look to both sides of the House, to members of my party and to Independent Members and, most important, to the wider community on how we will frame our Presidency.

The Taoiseach stated that he does not believe it is appropriate to go into the detail of his, and the Government's, negotiations on behalf of the Irish people. I understand that to a certain degree but he should trust the people more. We should be more open about what we are looking for in terms of this deal. The Taoiseach stated in the other House that we would pay our way and pay all our debts and that we were not looking for a debt write down. I would like to know what we are looking for. I welcome the announcement made at the recent July meeting but it behoves the Taoiseach and the Government, and it would be helpful to the people, to set more clearly our position and what we are looking for.

On behalf of my party, I wish the Taoiseach well. We will play a positive role in the Presidency and we would like to feed into it. We look forward to seeing the Taoiseach in the House before he takes over the Presidency of the EU.