Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The Government's policies have not been inspired by the needs of young families, but by the needs of developers who have dominated the Government's thinking on housing development with the cheapest option of sprawling relentlessly out to far-flung towns and villages becoming the norm where young families cannot get child care, transport or facilities. That is the reality of the Government's housing policy and €15 per week in respect of mortgage payments will not alter it.

This is the last in a series of budgets that have followed a remarkable pattern. They began in 2001 when the Government launched its first pre-election spending spree. The budget before us comes from the same stable. The Government is increasing spending at a rate 50% faster than the growth of national income. Taxes are rising as a result. This year, the Government is continuing the trend by budgeting to increase spending by 11.5%. To put this in perspective, an ordinary worker will be lucky to obtain an increase of4%. The surplus has been cut back at a time when the economy is experiencing pressure on the prices front and when SSIAs are coming on stream. Spending is increasing far faster than national income and tax revenues and this is posing a threat. Many commentators warned the Government about inflation before the budget was put together and I believe they will now be of the opinion that we are on dangerous ground.

The Government has doubled its dependence on the construction sector to support its revenue. A total of 25% of every tax euro spent by the Government comes from the construction sector. We are not in a strong position; we are, in fact, in a vulnerable position.

The real question is whether the Government has done enough to build the capability of the economy to withstand the real pressures under which it is about to come. Those pressures do not merely revolve around the possible slowdown in the housing market; they relate to the relentless march of competition that is coming our way. Our competitiveness has declined in each of the past five years. In the same period, our share of export markets and the level of manufacturing employment have fallen. Some 50% of the jobs that existed in IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland industries five years ago have disappeared.

We are facing serious challenges and the issue of competence on the part of the Government is important. I agree with Ministers who state that we cannot take economic management for granted. Nor can we take for granted the way the Government manages important frameworks used within the economy. I ask people watching these proceedings and asking where lies competence to consider how the Government has managed critical frameworks that are important to the long-term prosperity of the country.

Has the planning system been efficiently managed or have we repeated the worst excesses of urban sprawl seen in the United States in its darkest times? Any fair-minded person examining our planning system would state that we have repeated the dreadful mistakes made in the US. We are using resources ineffectively and making our families suffer. We do not have a proper planning system.

Is our regulatory system efficient? The regulators have increased prices in respect of energy and utilities across the board and faster than has been the case in any other country in Europe. Our utilities are 50% less efficient than those in Europe, but the regulators are increasing the prices that businesses and consumers are obliged to pay. Is that competent management on the part of the Government?

Is the management of our infrastructural investment competent? The OECD states that Ireland has fallen to 28th in respect of port infrastructure, 26th in respect of traffic infrastructure, 26th in respect of energy infrastructure and 25th in respect of broadband infrastructure. In short, the Government is bottom of the class when it comes to planning and delivering infrastructures to meet the country's needs. Is that competence?

Is the Government delivering the public service reform required to make the public sector efficient and quick to deal with consumers' needs or has it been sluggish and obtained poor outcomes for taxpayers' money? Again, any fair-minded person would say that the Government, particularly in the context of the way in which it dealt with benchmarking, has not displayed competence in critical areas. Ireland will not be successful and maintain its prosperity unless it has a government that recognises the threats facing it and makes plans in respect of them.

We have been presented with Estimates and spending budgets amounting to €64 billion. However, not a shred of evaluation will have been carried out in respect of the programmes to which this money relates. Multi-millions of euro will be committed to projects without any costings or evaluations being carried out. We are being asked to perform an act of faith in respect of the judgment of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Cullen, in respect of transport and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Roche, on planning, and we are to hope that the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Martin, will read his briefs on this occasion.

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