Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I rise to welcome the budget published yesterday by my colleagues, Deputies Howlin and Noonan. In saying that, on behalf of the Government I want to thank the people of this country who, over the past six years, have had to put up with a very difficult situation because of the fact that over that period of time some €28 billion had to be taken out of the Irish economy by way of tax increases and expenditure cuts. It is only right that we recognise the fortitude, patience, hard work and determination of the Irish people. It is their efforts which have allowed us to restructure this country. Obviously there is austerity fatigue in the country, given the scale of the adjustment and the scale of the collapse. People want to get to a new place in the Irish economy and with the budgetary measures announced yesterday, hope is in sight after this very long period which is as long, if not longer than the Second World War, given the devastation that caused.

This country would be in a much worse position now were it not for the support of the international community, especially the European institutions, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund. People talk about austerity as if there is some fundamental choice between having austerity and not having it. The truth of the matter is that if we did not obtain the support of the lender of last resort as we did over the past four years, this country would be an economic wasteland. It would be no different from the kind of junta-driven economic wasteland of Argentina, where one quarter of the population went hungry. That country is still locked out of the international money markets. It is the fortitude of the Irish people and the maturity of our political system which have allowed this country to get back on its feet again. I believe we are heading into better days. The restructuring that has taken place in the Irish economy is something to which other countries can look. While we were the second country to enter into a bailout programme - in which there are currently four countries - we will be the first country to exit that programme. It is the historic task of this Government and all Governments that follow us to make sure that we never again suffer the humiliation of going into another programme. Once we are out we need to stay out.

That is why it is important to put one salient fact on the record of this House, a fact that is known to every Irish person, regardless of age. In this budgetary process it is the Government's intention to spend €53 billion next year, of which we hope to bring in about €43 billion through taxes. There is a gap there of €10 billion and as anyone who manages a household budget, a business or a school will know, that is not sustainable. That is the fundamental reality the Government has to face in making these hard choices. An enormous deficit was left to us by the previous Administration. It is crucial that we continue to make progress in reducing that deficit as a percentage of our national wealth and I believe we are making steady progress in that regard.

When one talks about GDP, GNP and so forth, one can sometimes be blind to the actual reality on the ground. The new economic indicator of how well or badly this country is doing should be the number of people who are working here. In the last 15 months an additional 47,000 net new jobs have been created in the private sector, the real economy. That is an enormous tribute to enterprise, innovation and to small businesses. It is also a tribute to the hope and optimism of people who are prepared to set up businesses in a very challenging environment. As everyone knows, we have turned the corner in respect of employment. When we came into office we were losing 7,000 jobs every month. Now we are creating 3,000 jobs. However, I must make it clear that Governments do not create jobs. It is the people with good ideas, those who are prepared to risk their houses and to put their shoulder to the wheel who create jobs for other people.

That is why it is crucial that we have a proper taxation system that encourages people to work, take entrepreneurial risks and invest in their businesses.

Over the past three years, unit labour costs in Ireland have gone down by 12% when in other eurozone countries they have gone up by 8% or 9%. We are more productive, more competitive and obviously working longer for less money. This is a significant structural advantage for our economy which IDA Ireland can highlight to potential multinational investors. That is why it is important that we continue to make progress in reducing our deficit and getting more people back to work. We are not a Mediterranean economy like Spain, Portugal or Greece. Ours is a highly privatised, nimble and deleveraged economy which is export-focused. We do not have a large public sector; it comes to only 17% of the total workforce. This is totally out of kilter with southern European countries. We are much closer to the British and German model of entrepreneurship and export-focus. We can come back much quicker than other countries affected by the crisis because our economy is highly privatised.

There are better days ahead. We must continue in all our efforts - both the Government and the Opposition - to make sure the hope the people want is one that can be realised by getting people back to work. Members raised the issue of emigration. It is a scandal that some of the best and brightest, on whose education significant Irish taxation was spent, are leaving our shores. Up to 80,000 people left this country in the past 12 months; half of these were not Irish but were going back to their home countries. Yet 50,000 people came back into the country. No one ever talks about the Irish returning home to take up new job opportunities in the emerging economy. It is the Government’s task to continue to provoke domestic demand and help the process of getting more people back to work.

I hope this budget will be seen in the round. I appreciate the difficulties in this budget, particularly against the background of cuts over the past several years. Had we followed the proposals from the hard left and the hard right to give the two fingers to the troika, this country would be in economic Armageddon. We are on our feet again. We are close to the end of this crisis. This is an important point that our people need to hear. When they hear this, they will see there is real hope for this economy to take off as we see further progress in the British and eurozone economies.

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