Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

In the past ten or 15 years, as the Taoiseach regularly reminds us, this country has made huge economic progress. The degree to which the economy has grown and incomes and living standards have improved in the past ten to 15 years has been absolutely phenomenal. That is unprecedented in this country and in most other countries and it has been extremely welcome.

When one looks at international comparisons and the league tables that are carried out for different economies, one finds that on incomes, average incomes, GDP, etc. we are in the top ten, and that is great, but on competitiveness we do not do so well. We are beginning to slip. We are now lying in 22nd place internationally. On infrastructure we are in 49th place, which is way behind. Why is it that the bit of the economic equation for which the Government is directly responsible, namely, infrastructure, is the bit on which we are doing worst? Can the Taoiseach account for why that is after ten or 11 years of leadership of Government in that period?

We all know the traffic situation in Dublin is chronic. One of the things most people find frustrating is that the most minor accident anywhere in Dublin causes traffic gridlock. Before Christmas a truck jack-knifed near the East Link bridge and the traffic on the north and west sides of the city was completely screwed up for the entire day. There was a burst water pipe south of Bray and the entire M50 was shut down for seven or eight hours because nobody could move.

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