Tom Kitt (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

Every Government strives to ensure that the country's resources are spread fairly. The Deputy has acknowledged that our economy is successful. That our economic success should lead to an improvement in people's lives is acknowledged in Measuring Ireland's Progress 2004, which is a very valuable report. As it is a statistical report, it highlights the areas in which discrepancies exist and progress needs to be made. The proportion of Irish people in third level education is 39.4% compared with an EU rate of 24.8%. Ireland has the third highest rate in the EU of participation in third level education. We all agree that educational qualifications are central to the acquisition of a decent job. Ireland is the envy of its EU partners because it is the best country in the EU at attracting foreign investment. In 2003, direct inward investment flows represented 17% of this country's GDP, or ten times the corresponding eurozone rate of 1.7%. The report under discussion highlights that Ireland has successfully attracted employment. The public balance is in surplus and the unemployment rate has been reduced.

The Deputy rightly referred to the issue of poverty and deprivation. However, different rates apply and there is continuing argument about the discrepancy between the EU survey on income and living conditions model and Ireland's national model. To take the example of a particular deprivation measure, heating is a key deprivation measure in Ireland but is not necessarily so in a country like Greece. We are beginning to use EU guidelines for such measures but these guidelines will need refining.

I am not in the business of arguing over the detail of percentages. The key point for any Government is to discover the real needs and the Government is determined to do this. I will not rehearse the record of the Government in regard to social welfare payments because Members have already heard it, but the achievements of the Government are substantial.

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