Liam Twomey (Wexford, Fine Gael)

The Celtic tiger generation has received an extremely raw deal from the Government which is not prepared to accept that it has failed to deliver in respect of hugely important quality-of-life issues. It has continually preached about the booming economy but failed to deal with the obstacles it has placed in the way of members of the Celtic tiger generation. Many people of my age and younger feel like hamsters on a treadmill, constantly running but getting nowhere. An even worse crisis threatens, since they are very heavily in debt, a problem about which the Government has done nothing. Economists tell us how heavily indebted we are, but the Government should address the fact that we are the worst nation in the world in that regard. In 2000, for every €100 of income earned in this country, we owed €60. In 2007, for every €100 earned, we will owe €140, and the total is growing.

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