Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Moving on, the delegates are making a case for tighter arrangements with regard to the budget. All of the indicators in the council's table - GDP, consumption, investment, exports and imports - are showing an upward curve. Employment is going up, while unemployment is coming down. The main indicators are good, but there is another factor in the council's modelling, namely, the social dimension. People are under enormous pressure and will get to a point, financially, where they will not be able to take that extra notch in the belt. If it is tightened too much, they will not be able to function. There is growth in the economy; jobs are being created on a daily basis and unemployment is going down, but people are still under enormous pressure. There has to be some easing of the burden on ordinary people.

I would like Professor McHale to comment on the social dimension. Ireland Inc. is not like a normal company. We have a social dimension to our remit. What are considered to be the risks to the Irish economy in the next 12 months in terms of meeting the 3% target? We have a margin of 0.3%. Could Professor McHale outline where he sees the possible challenges and headwinds that could prevent us meeting targets? Could we put policies in place to deal with such possibilities? Could Professor McHale frame his reply in the context of Ireland Inc. being made up of individual families that are under enormous pressure?