Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

It seems we have gone from riches to rags, the opposite direction to what one would desire, and from imprudent spending to hair shirt misery in just six months. The deterioration in the public finances has necessitated a move from the culture of immoral recklessness where problems were overcome by throwing more funds at them, without due attention to value for money. That is where the problem lies. Ministers were cock of the walk in this House in recent years, with phoney forecasts such as the decentralisation programme. I will never forget the day the former Minister for Finance, Mr. Charlie McCreevy, let fly in the middle of a budget on his wonderful proposals for decentralisation. It was an act of sabotage which gave decentralisation a bad name forever as a result of the way the initiative was handled. It should be a source of shame to the Government that it has tarnished what is an absolutely positive concept by the manner of its delivery.

One can only imagine what might have been achieved if moneys expended in recent years had been managed more wisely. The road-building programme is an obvious example. A price tag of €6.6 billion was placed on the inter-urban project four or five years ago, but it ended up costing €16 billion. Even allowing for inflation, €6 billion or €7 billion could surely have been saved if there had been any degree of effective management. That €6 billion or €7 billion could have been used, for example, to upgrade the N17 and N18 and construct the Tuam health campus and the Tuam bypass. Despite the protestations of the Minister for Transport, we can have no doubt that the verb "pause" will feature prominently in the coming months. Projects will be "paused" throughout the State.

The Taoiseach outlined this package of measures because he had no choice but to do so. He was brought screeching to this point because something had to be done. He introduced it in a clever way because many people will have responded to the proposal for a 3% payroll cut with the conviction that it will not affect them. However, when these cutbacks are implemented, we will all feel the impact. To achieve the saving of €1 billion next year which the Taoiseach has said is necessary, somebody will have to endure a significant amount of pain. If the economy deteriorates further before the end of the year, there may be a shortfall of €2 billion or €3 billion. Anybody who has a part-time job or is employed in a temporary capacity is on thin ice. Many people are up to their necks in debt through the credit card system and there is no doubt that there will be misery as a result. Only this time last year, the Government was talking about 4% growth, but it is now less than 0%. I had hoped it would be otherwise but that is the way it is going and against that background many people will be hurt.

The building sector has been rattled. It was obvious three or four years ago, however, that a number of people had become wealthy at the expense of thousands of young couples who will pay through the nose for the enrichment of those fat cats. Unfortunately, the service industries are now being hit, which is something the two Ministers opposite know a lot about. Confidence has gone out of the domestic market, while people back away from buying furniture and other hardware. In recent years, our economy was built on services but we have a problem when the service industry begins to dip. I sincerely hope that for everyone's sake the situation is not as bad as it looks. In years past, no matter what the problem was, the Government knew the goose would continue to lay golden eggs. It never thought the goose would die, but she did.

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