In his state of the nation speech — his address on the state of this part of the nation — the Taoiseach stated: "I want to be the Taoiseach who retrieves Ireland's economic sovereignty".

I am glad Deputy Adams watched it.

Yes, it was amazing. At the weekend, the Taoiseach agreed a new fiscal compact. I mo bharúil, tá an Rialtas tar éis glacadh le coinníollacha an troika agus an fiscal compact seo fosta. Tabharfaidh sé cosaint dos na baincéirí agus an éilít. Cuirfidh sé leis an mbochtanas agus ghearrfaidh sé tuilleadh cruatain ar oibritheoirí. This new effort to regain our sovereignty contains a clear commitment, in clause 4, to introduce what is referred to as a "golden rule" on austerity at constitutional or equivalent level in the Irish legal system. Does the Government intend to place the proposed 0.5% deficit ceiling into the Constitution as required by the agreement? Will the Taoiseach state clearly that such a move will require a referendum? Does he accept that adopting such a policy will have a devastating effect on an already distressed economy? The Government has given a commitment to introduce austerity budgets until 2015. The new proposal would result in austerity budgets in perpetuity. How many more years of austerity will be required after 2015 to bring the deficit to 0.5% of GDP?

Deputy Adams is aware that the country's participation in a programme supersedes the figures mentioned in the political agreement reached in the early hours of last Saturday morning. As he is aware, this political agreement does not yet have legal standing. A great deal of technical work must be done before a text can be presented which will be ratified in various ways by individual countries. The fact that Ireland is in a programme supersedes all of this.

Deputy Adams's statement that I want to be the Taoiseach to retrieve Ireland's sovereignty is true. We do not have our economic sovereignty in the way the Deputy and I would wish because we cannot propose programmes at Government level without securing approval from the paymaster general, if one likes, the troika. From that point of view, I have announced that the Government will introduce a fiscal Bill next spring in respect of most of what is contained in the agreement and the ongoing work in the country.

There is nothing new here. It is in everybody's interests that fiscal discipline and control are exercised by countries in drafting their budgets. Deputy Adams should not have the impression that our philosophy is that a generation of austerity is before us. If we do not fix the engine of our economy, we will not have a country. The fact of the matter is that the rate of borrowing on a daily basis needs to change and it will change. When we make the changes that are needed, they will have an impact on growth, development, investment in jobs and job creation. Until that happens, we will not have the kind of country where we can stand with our own sovereignty, which is what I and — I assume — the Deputy would like. The political agreement that was reached last Friday will be the subject of detailed analysis and consideration by officials in all the countries before a text is presented. That text will have to be assessed to ascertain whether it conforms with the Constitution. If it conforms with the Constitution, the advice of the Attorney General obviously will be clear. If it does not and a referendum must be held, then a referendum will be held. Let us be quite clear on that. I want the Deputy to understand that we cannot have the necessary growth, development, job creation and career opportunities for the young people in the Gallery, and their peers around Ireland, until the engine of our economy is fixed. Our economy is in a poor state at the moment because of the state of our public finances. In such circumstances, we have to move forward and rectify these problems.

I do not believe the Taoiseach does not see the huge contradiction between his assertion about restoring our economic sovereignty and his decision to sign up to giving away even more of our economic sovereignty as part of the fiscal compact. This morning, he shared with us a fine letter he wrote to President van Rompuy. The letter states, among other things, that the Taoiseach intended to raise the question of reducing Ireland's debt during the European Council meeting. It is set out in some detail in the letter. The Taoiseach planned to raise the matter and to explain to his colleagues the cost to Ireland of capitalising the banks in a manner that protected European and Irish citizens. The Taoiseach told us at this morning's briefing that he did not raise the matter. I wonder if he forgot to do so. Did he leave the letter behind? Was he tired? Why did he not raise the matter? He has failed to put it on the agenda at any of the umpteen summits that have taken place since he took office. Can he explain to the Dáil the rationale for not raising the most pressing issue that faces the people? It seems we will keep paying huge amounts of money to Anglo Irish Bank and other criminal banks. The Taoiseach did not raise that at the weekend, which is bad enough, even though he had written to them to tell them he would raise it.

He was trying to frighten them.

There was a music outfit one time called Mike and the Mechanics. They used to sing a song called "Isn't it Amazing?".

That is true.

This morning, Deputy Adams attended a private briefing for the leaders of Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin and the Technical Group. What he is now saying is not what he was told. It is not a case of me forgetting, or a case of me not wanting to say something.

I did not say the Taoiseach forgot. I asked what happened.

It is a case of Deputy Adams deliberately misinterpreting what I said this morning. I said I raised it at the Council meeting. I presented our case on the basis of the challenge that now faces the Irish people. Before the bailout, this country borrowed €63 billion at excessive interest rates in order to recapitalise the banks. It was the equivalent of 50% of our GDP. I made the point, as an example to other countries of what we face here, that we should be able to use the current facilities that are available under the EFSF and will be available under the ESM to get into a position where we can pay that off at lower interest rates over a longer period, with a very substantial saving for the Irish taxpayer.

Hear, hear.

If Deputy Adams did not hear that this morning, either he or his adviser does not understand plain English. I thought I made it very clear.

He must not be paying his adviser enough. He needs a more expensive one.

It is amazing that Deputy Adams has shown the audacity to come in here and say what he has said. As one of his peers in Northern Ireland from a different party used to say, "don't put words in my mouth".

Someone should put words in the Taoiseach's mouth.

I took note of what the Taoiseach said. He said he did not raise it at the Council meeting. What did they say to him? Did they send him a "Dear John" letter?

I did raise it.

For the record, the Taoiseach's figures are wrong. We did not borrow €63 billion at that time. If that is what the Taoiseach is telling them, they are probably laughing at him behind the tables or the doors. He needs to get his figures right if he wants to engage in serious negotiations.

Deputy Doherty will have his time in leadership in a few years' time.