Noel Treacy (Galway East, Fianna Fail)

——and that more people should be taken out of the top tax band. That is what the social and morally proper party is looking for. It is bankrupt of ideas.

Industrial unrest was widespread while our young people were leaving in search of jobs in numbers not seen since the 1950s.

The facts of history also show that in 1987, faced by an economic wasteland of incompetence and mismanagement, the Taoiseach, the then Minister for Labour, crafted our first social partnership agreement. This first agreement became the template on which stability and prosperity was built and continues to be a crucial aspect of economic and social policy.

In my 23 years as a Member of this House, I have never heard an Opposition so at sea in its response to a budget. It has been wrong-footed and responded accordingly. We have one more budget to go before we put ourselves before the people and I am confident that when the time arrives, the people will recognise what has been achieved over the previous ten years. It is my great pleasure to commend this budget to this House for its approval.

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