Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome here today. I congratulate him on a very busy 48 hours. That is a very short time but I know the Minister put in a lot of work previously. Well done on the budget and best wishes for the future.

We are here today looking at amendments to the Eurogroup agreements that were signed off on last November. These relate to the European Stability Mechanism and the common backstop to the Single Resolution Fund, which is to come into effect in January 2022. Ireland has certainly been to the forefront and very proactive in making sure that the euro is sound and that there is competitiveness and great stability. It is a great breakthrough that we are looking at this two years earlier than was expected. The Minister is to be complimented on managing to get a reduction for Ireland. No state will be able to borrow if not considered able to pay those funds back and that is to be welcomed. The Minister said that this is not going to cost the taxpayer any money. That is really significant because there was some misinformation out there. I welcome that.

Much of the Bill is technical but the early introduction is certainly to be welcomed. We are now to pay €815 million where we were to pay €1.815 billion and the Minister is to be complimented on achieving that reduction because it took an awful lot of work on behalf of Ireland to negotiate those terms. The Minister and his team have worked tirelessly to put forward Ireland's case. I wish this Bill all the best. I also wish the Minister all the best in his endeavours.