Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

The Government has already welcomed the publication of the two recent reports on the banking crisis and it is prepared to accept responsibility for decisions made at the time. One of the factors which resulted in our present predicament was the property bubble but in the interest of fairness it must be pointed out that the Taoiseach, as Minister for Finance, decided to do away with property related tax incentives even though there had been no outcry for their abolition. Furthermore, we are experiencing a worldwide crisis and many other economies, including the United States, Greece, Spain, Britain, Italy and Iceland, are also suffering at present. The Opposition may, however, wish to blame us for the problems these economies are experiencing.

We are committed to putting the economy and the country ahead of short-term partisan or party political interests. It is more productive to concentrate our energies on resolving our current difficulties and planning for economic recovery than to spend countless hours in political navel gazing about recent events.

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