Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Much of the Taoiseach's reply is absolute nonsense. In ten years of unprecedented economic development, he has failed to establish any value-for-money framework for public spending. He has failed to achieve real reforms in benchmarking, as we discussed. There has been an explosion of bureaucracy in the HSE, serious over-runs in the Luas and Dublin Port tunnel projects, sheer mismanagement and waste in e-voting and PPARS. There has been an unplanned explosion in the number of quangos with 500 established at national level and 300 at local level and a total of 5,000 Government appointments. Cost over-runs have been massive and the rate of inflation is more than two and a half times that in most of the eurozone. The public spending profile is completely out of line in the context of value for money.

Following the general election of 2002, the Government loaded a range of stealth taxes onto Irish households and business and for the first time in 25 years our competitiveness and our level of exports have fallen. Can it be expected there will be no repeat of this policy and that the Government will not lorry more stealth charges onto households and businesses which cannot sustain them?

In view of the buyers' strike which is happening in the property market and as the construction industry is crucial to the national economy, will the Taoiseach agree this is an appropriate time to do something substantial with stamp duty for first-time buyers and those wishing to trade up and down — without setting off a stampede in the market — in the manner proposed by Fine Gael and the Labour Party before the last election? Will the Taoiseach grasp that nettle at a time of serious slow down in the construction business with a buyers' strike in operation? This would be his opportunity to take progressive action in a critical area.

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