Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for coming here to discuss this all-important topic. That Ireland is a strong supporter and is able to contribute to the IMF fund to help out other countries is an important message.

As Senator Casey has said, this is a very technical Bill. It makes sure we are in the right position to be able to give support to countries like Somalia that are in need. The Minister of State highlighted the war in Ukraine and Covid, which were both unprecedented and things none of us knew were going to happen. While our own citizens are feeling the pinch, certainly with increased costs of fuel, energy and grocery bills, and every time you go into a shop it is easy to see the increases, there are other countries feeling the pain a lot more than us. We, as part of Europe, are able to support those countries.

We are all aware of the IMF as it has existed for quite a while. A number of economically strong member countries with the financial capacity to support the international monetary system agreed to make available resources to the fund in the form of loans. As Senator Casey outlined, it is important these low-interest loans are available. There is no point going into the details of the Bill because the Minister of State outlined very eloquently the different sections and what they do.Fine Gael will be supporting the Bill.