Fidelma Healy Eames (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister. Our timing might be a little askew but we are obliged to be here. None of us would sign a deal without knowing the facts, but we are doing this tonight because we are trusting the Minister's judgment and infinite wisdom about what he cannot share with us tonight. That is some responsibility for the Minister to us and to the Irish people.

The Minister was handed a poisoned chalice from the outset. Of course a write down would have been preferable, but was it ever realistic? In a way, this is a Collins-de Valera moment again. Tomorrow we will try to secure a deal in which, as Senator Hayden said, we must accept that half a loaf is better than no bread. That might be a put down, but I do not believe it is. It is for today. To refer to what Senator MacSharry said, it does not mean we will not be renegotiating again, but we must always get the best deal at every juncture.

There was a meeting of ordinary citizens in Oranmore last Monday night. They told me was that we should not pay the promissory note in March but restructure it and spread it out over a long period. Their reason was that the current unsustainable debt was too much for any generation to endure. Is that not what the Minister is doing here tonight? Can the Minister give the House an estimate of how much this deal will save the Irish people? If our current debt to GDP ratio is 120%, what are we bringing it back down to? I acknowledge the time we are saving, which is what the Irish people need now. We need time to breathe, to get back on our feet and to get a bounce.

As the Minister knows, David Hall and New Beginnings is bringing a case to the Supreme Court at 10.15 in the morning regarding the promissory note. Will the promissory note still exist, technically, by then? Finally, will the Minister address the serious issue of property rights being set aside in this Bill? It is the second highest right and I echo some of the concerns expressed by Senator Barrett. I wish the Minister well. He is flying the flag for our country in Europe.