Bailout exit is milestone on the road to economic recovery – O’Reilly TD
Fine Gael TD for Cavan and Monaghan, Deputy Joe O’Reilly has welcomed the news that Ireland will exit from the bailout next month.
Speaking after An Taoiseach made the announcement in the Dáil, the deputy said: 'Ireland’s international reputation has now been restored and following a careful and thorough assessment of all of the available options and a broad consultation process, the Irish Government decided that Ireland will exit the EU/IMF programme on the 15th of December, as planned and without a pre-arranged precautionary credit facility.
'This is the right decision for Ireland, and now is the right time to take this decision. It will mean that from 2014 we will be in a position to fund ourselves normally on the markets. We have been working to this objective for the past three years and we will now return to being a normal Eurozone member state, with normal market funding arrangements. Market confidence in Ireland is high, the public finances under control, we are reducing our deficit and debt levels and economic conditions and sentiment are improving. This is an important milestone on Ireland’s recovery, it will send a positive signal to businesses and investors alike and is testament to the commitment of the Irish people to get the job done', said Deputy O'Reilly.
'The contrast with November 2010, when Fianna Fáil’s gross negligence sleep-walked us into a bailout, could not be greater. Our economy is experiencing growth for the third consecutive year and 3,000 new jobs are being created every month. The number of people on the live register has dropped for the sixteenth consecutive month and is now under 400,000 for the first time since 2009. The NTMA has more than €20 billion in cash reserves and interest rates on Irish Government bonds are historically low.
'This time three years ago, the EU/IMF arrived and we had our economic sovereignty taken from us. This was possibly the lowest moment in the history of the State. Yesterday’s news, heralding the return of our sovereignty is a major achievement and we have really come a long way from where we began when we took power in 2011,' concluded Deputy O'Reilly.