Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House.

In common with contributors on all sides of the House, I commend her, the Taoiseach and the Government for the initiatives that I hope - with fingers and toes crossed - are beginning to bear fruit.

The Minister of State is entering a challenging time, namely, her first Irish Presidency. As she outlined, one of the main priorities will be to stimulate growth and to address the challenging issue of unemployment. These issues are foremost in most people's minds, irrespective or despite of the high flowing economic talk about bank debts, sovereign debts, etc. Most Europeans will be focused on creating jobs and reducing unemployment rates.

Sunday was a good day for the Taoiseach. It showed that Ireland has traditionally been capable of building alliances despite our small size. It is obvious that the rapport between the Taoiseach and Chancellor Merkel resulted in Sunday's statement, but it is vague about what will occur next and does not indicate whether the European Stability Mechanism, ESM, will be allowed to take equity stakes in Irish banks or at what value. The Government should clarify whether the State is seeking to sell its stakes in the banks to the ESM.

I read a speech made at a conference last week by the Secretary General of the Department of Finance, Mr. John Moran. He stated that, when the previous Government introduced the State guarantee of the banks in 2008, it took on an exposure of ¤375 billion and that the amount had decreased to approximately ¤90 billion. It is still too high and is a drag on our finances. All of us, even economists of diverse views, accept that the bank debt is unsustainable and must be removed from the sovereign. Positive news is that the banks are close to functioning without the State guarantee of deposits.

What is the Minister of State's interpretation of the events of the past week? The best way to handle the promissory note is to extend the period at a low interest rate, for example, zero coupon bullet bonds. This would have a decreasing effect on the annual requirements of fiscal policy. While this is a statement of the obvious, are these the types of approaches that the Government considered? What does the communique mean exactly? As some economists have stated, it is not enough to point to Ireland as a model pupil, the best boy in the class or a special case. That the statement issued in Ireland was not issued to the German media seems to suggest that a two-handed game is being played - Angela Merkel is looking to domestic considerations while issuing platitudes to Ireland's special case. These doubts are spreading in people's minds, irrespective or despite of what one would be churlish not to acknowledge has been a positive week overall.

I wish the Minister of State every success in taking on the challenging role of representing Ireland in the EU Presidency. On the basis of her experience to date, she will rise to the challenge and Ireland will have another successful Presidency. We have a long tradition in that regard.