Michael Kennedy (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

Since the advent of this Government and the previous one, economic growth has averaged over 7% per annum. While this has fallen in recent years, today's ESRI report predicts a return to over 5% growth in the next five years or so. The same economic fundamentals to which Deputy Burton referred are ultimately the same factors which will prevent us from plunging into the economic pit of despair into which my Dublin colleague believes we are headed. I remain confident in this Government's ability to handle the economy. The implication that the Taoiseach is mishandling the economy bears the hallmarks of political sabotage by an Opposition party with nothing to offer the electorate other than reactionary gibberish. Of all the gibberish uttered by Deputy Burton last night, what I found most offensive was her comparison of Ministers' alleged mishandling of the economy with the response of US officials to Hurricane Katrina. That was a cheap shot and the Deputy knows it.

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