Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I welcome our visiting colleagues and am delighted to have them with us for this important exchange of views.

In respect of the effect of the economic crisis on our local authorities, each Department and public sector body, as well as the private sector in many ways, has had to take a proportionate cut down along the line. Wages and salaries have been cut, in some cases by up to 40%. Working time has been increased while holidays have been reduced. Effectively and essentially, a wide range of economic measures have been applied through each Department to their subsidiary sectors to achieve the targets laid down in the troika agreement. The Government’s policy has been to try to encourage employment and minimise tax on working to encourage the regeneration of employment while ensuring at the same time that budgetary targets are met. We are set to achieve all of our targets in the economic recovery plan arising from the troika agreement and will be on target to move out into the financial markets on time.

Unemployment, particularly youth unemployment, is a problem in respect of which specific policies are being pursued at the present time in line with European policy on the same issue. At the same time, selective capital projects are being considered as a means of alleviating some unemployment and generating economic growth. Our target is to achieve economic growth as a means of galvanising economic recovery such as an economic growth rate of about 2% in 18 months time or thereabouts. We expect that anything in excess of that will have a dramatic result. We need to achieve 2% growth in the not too distant future as quickly as possible.

We are proceeding cautiously with regard to trying to achieve our targets as we proceed. We are trying to review our position as we go along. We have moved away from the notion that previously applied for the 15 year period prior to this whereby economic targets were assumed. We have now adopted a policy of checking economic progress on a regular basis in line with European policy. I wish to emphasise that we have not found it easy. This has been difficult. We have had social unrest and unease on a constant basis. The two parties in government have had to adopt a very firm stance. It is a difficult situation to find ourselves in but the two parties in government are committed to those targets and will continue. With regard to the issues presented by the delegation at the beginning, each EU member state, without exception, needs to play its role at the present time. Nobody can opt out or presume that somebody else will carry them. We know that and are fully committed to our own recovery. I should mention that I am the old guy in this bunch.