Michael Ahern (Cork East, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Bruton has consistently argued for restraint in public expenditure, but at his side and at his back, and in councils throughout the country, his colleagues have been shouting loudly for more and more expenditure in all areas. Which is the real Fine Gael policy? Is it Deputy Bruton's or is it that of the rest of the pack?

The challenge facing the Government is not an easy one to overcome, as any fair-minded person will acknowledge, in view of what has happened in the US, across Europe and in international markets. However, I have faith in Irish entrepreneurs, having been privileged, as Minister of State with responsibility for trade over five years or so, to see at first hand on many trade missions across the world how these men and women, in many diverse businesses, are capable of taking on the best any country can produce and succeeding. These people were products of our excellent education system and we must ensure the system continues to receive the funding necessary to produce more and more highly qualified people to drive on the economy in the years ahead.

As has been mentioned many times, regulation is important to ensure confidence and certainty in any system. As was recognised by our Government in the last number of years, over-regulation was putting an excessive burden on many businesses and the Better Regulation report charted to way to reducing excessive regulation. This must be continued in order to improve the competitiveness of Irish companies, but regulation is vital and it must not be thrown out. As has been mentioned by previous speakers, lack of regulation in the US has led to the mess we are in today.

I spent five years working in the building industry in the 1970s and early 1980s, at which time there was a downturn in the industry. It was mainly due to high interest rates, high inflation, high unemployment and mass emigration. The difficulties we are experiencing now are the results of different factors, one of which is the price of land. There should be control over the price of land as it affects not only the price of houses, but also the price of agricultural land, public housing and many other things. People with too much cash drive prices up to a level that is uneconomic for many industries. This should be examined for the future. We are in a cyclical world and these things will come around again.

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