Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

On 3 September, the Taoiseach announced that there would be an early budget, on 14 October to exert control over the public finances and instil confidence in the Irish economy at home and abroad. In the meantime, prior to the announcement of the budget, he agreed a national pay agreement which provided pay increases of 6% to workers, despite having said in July that it would not be the end of the world if an agreement were not reached and that partnership had served its purpose. He accepted the 6% increase in September in the full knowledge that the agreement was neither sustainable nor affordable.

What is missing in the current situation is confidence in the Government and the Minister for Finance and confidence on the part of the financial sector and the business market that we can play our way out of the difficulties we are experiencing. Instead, what we got in the budget was a list of stealth taxes. My colleague, Deputy Bruton, has observed that these additional charges will amount to some €2,500 for every family in the State. At the same time 10,000 jobs per month, or more than 300 per day, are being lost. In other words, significant numbers of people who were formerly tax contributors are becoming tax takers. This imbalance, if it continues to worsen, will seriously jeopardise our finances and hinder our ability to extract ourselves from the mess we are in.

The Government claims this is a global crisis. That is true. However, our difficulties were made worse by the domestic policies pursued in recent years. The Government reminds me of a hedgehog caught in the headlights in the middle of the road. It knows it will be run over if it remains there, but it chooses not to move in the hope that the driver will see it and stop. Unfortunately, we cannot depend on other countries to help us out of this difficulty.

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