Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I believe the boat is well below the waterline. Deputy White is having considerable selective amnesia. When her party was in opposition it had a completely different viewpoint on how Fianna Fáil was operating in government. I want to be fair to the Taoiseach. We are speaking in respect of the two reports covering the period from September 2004 to early 2008, when the Taoiseach, Deputy Cowen, was Minister for Finance. Page 28 of Professor Honohan's report states:

Although Ireland's public debt level immediately prior to the crisis was low, the fiscal deficit and public sector borrowing surged quickly with the onset of the crisis. This was partly attributable to a rise in Government spending in GDP (after 2004) which became embedded in the system.

Not only did we have pro-cyclical budgets, but they were turbo-boosted by the current Taoiseach. The cyclical taxes that were property related represented 8% of our tax take in 1987 and in 2006 they represented 30%. According to Professor Honohan's report real expenditure rose by 11% in 2007 and 2008, which coincides with the general election year. I remember the then Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Cowen, speaking on radio a week before the general election - when we were cautioning - telling the public there was not a problem and the fundamentals were sound. After the general election he spoke to the House about soft landings for months. The dogs in the street knew there were problems. Furthermore in his speech today he spoke about eliminating tax incentive schemes. He referred to "the decisions in the budget I presented to Dáil Éireann in December 2005 to abolish a very wide range of property-based tax incentives". However, they were not introduced for a further 2.5 years in July 2008, when the crash was happening. He gives the impression that he made all these decisions, but he procrastinated over eliminating the tax incentive schemes. We now have properties built - many of them sitting idle - and many people in negative equity. The consequences of negative equity are not just in terms of the house itself. It is affecting people's capacity to borrow and mobility of staff.

The facts speak for themselves. Three quarters of the fiscal and banking crisis was caused by local factors according to Professor Honohan's report. The Taoiseach did not give any evidence to those preparing either of these reports. He was Minister for Finance during the critical period. We need a proper commission of investigation to investigate the motivational aspects of why the Taoiseach, Deputy Cowen, as Minister for Finance introduced these aspects.

Two Green Party Members gave speeches - effectively on mature reflection. The problem is that neither of them once mentioned joblessness - the 400,000 people on the live register. What are they doing about that? They spoke about bogs and other matters, which are all very well in their own regard. The top priority should be jobs.

See this speech in context