John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. It was noted by some speakers that the making of legislation late at night often leads to poor legislation and poor outcomes. Of course, we forget it is not the hour on the clock that leads to the bad legislation; it is the decisions and the assumptions that underpin the necessity for such legislation in the first place that lead to poor outcomes. We could spend the entire night discussing and speculating on what might happen in Frankfurt tomorrow but this would not be helpful. It is probably best to constrain ourselves to discussing what is in the Bill before us. It is vital legislation which is a necessary first step in a sequence that will see a satisfactory outcome, we hope, to the promissory note issue.

It has been said throughout the year and even for the past two years that a deal of any nature was not achievable and could not be done. It sometimes seemed to me that some of the commentators were privately hoping we could not achieve a deal and that no deal was available or achievable. It is disappointing to hear the language in which the debate is being framed tonight. I heard one Deputy say in the other House that this was a day of humiliation for the country. I cannot see how somebody could say that. This has to be a good day for the country when we consider that two years ago we thought we were on the verge of ruin and bankruptcy and there was no way out. There is a very clear pathway out of our difficulty with the deal that has been achieved today. On Private Members' time earlier, the same Deputy had called for a unilateral non-payment of the promissory notes, knowing full well that is not achievable - it is not even legal. His colleague, who supported that Private Members' motion, later stated in the same breath that what was possible in Private Members' time using one argument was impossible in the following debate using the same argument. The level of confusion, to be charitable, in some of the commentary surrounding this deal is alarming.

Unfortunately, I fear the Opposition will try - I believe it has already tried - to frame a negative outcome in the way this will be reported and commented on tomorrow, which is unfortunate. This is despite the fact that we do not have information available to us as to the outcome of the Minister's negotiations with Frankfurt tomorrow, although I suppose facts are sometimes irrelevant when it comes to scoring political points. We know the Opposition has a job to do and we respect and acknowledge that. I am particularly glad to see that Fianna Fáil has in this House and the other House taken a particularly responsible role in holding this Government to account.