Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

I do not accept they have been destroyed, but I accept responsibility as Minister for Finance for ensuring those fundamentals are improved and enhanced in the years ahead. With regard to the cause of our current position, Ireland is an exceptionally open economy and the deterioration in the global climate in the past year has had a major impact here. We are more exposed to global trends than many other economies. The pace of growth in our main trading partners has slowed and this has had an impact on our export performance. The application of the exchange rate also has an effect as a significant part of our trade is outside the euro area. Developments in the euro-sterling bilateral rate are of special importance given our proximity to the United Kingdom.

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