Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

The focus of the discussion wandered towards the financial outlook. The fact of the matter is that the public finances are characterised by their unprecedented, underlying strength, with a nominal general Government debt ratio of 25%. However, if there were a net general Government debt that took account of national pension fund contributions, it would result in a percentage of approximately 13% or 14%. On the nonsense about the catastrophic implications for our finances, memories must be very short if they forget what happened in the 1980s. I do not believe they are so short. What is required is a steady hand.

I can recall the Government being criticised as pro-cyclical. Thanks to the underlying strength of the economy, the budget was actually moderately anti-cyclical. This is confirmed by studying the Book of Estimates published in recent days which shows growth of 8% or 9%.

Underlying the amendment is the notion that we must interpose another group of civil servants between the taxpayer and the Revenue Commissioners. My experience of the Revenue Commissioners is that they are just as happy to assist taxpayers in claiming refunds as they are to assist them in meeting their obligations. Admittedly, there are geographical limitations in that one's experience relates to the particular office with which one deals. I simply do not believe the Revenue Commissioners would somehow be less inclined to assist taxpayers in obtaining refunds in the light of the Exchequer returns for the past two months. One should remember that the underlying financial position is strong. Incidentally, it is far too early in the year to make predictions. Very often, economic trends can alter course considerably in the course of a year. It is far too early to extrapolate from the figures for a two month period what the overall position for the year will be.

Personally, I do not see the necessity of establishing a new office. Unless it is an automatic refund system, a taxpayer must still contact a taxpayers' advocate office with details. Why would he or she not contact the Revenue Commissioners directly? I would have every confidence in their ability and willingness to help ordinary taxpayers, as Deputy Burton calls them, to claim their rights.

Reference was made to competitiveness. I presume Deputy Bruton saw the news in the past 48 hours or so that on the basis of the Lisbon Agenda, Ireland was the second most competitive of 15 countries in the European Union, after Finland. The position is not as bad as is sometimes made out.

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