Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The Taoiseach was the Minister for Finance for three years prior to assuming his current office. He saw the warning signs and knew that, given information received from the housing industry, spending programmes would lead to this situation, yet he ignored those warnings. Jobs are being lost at a rate of 10,000 per month and, despite the fact that 2 million people are at work, consumer spending is not confident. The Government exacerbated the situation by imposing a VAT increase. This has devastated a swathe of countryside 50 miles south of the Border because the British Government has gone the other way and reduced its VAT rate.

There is no plan. The Government should inform the House as to whether it intends to go back to the drawing board to examine the fundamentals of the budget's structure. If the Minister for Finance will not introduce a mini-budget in the spring or increase taxes in 2009 on top of the 17 imposed in the budget six weeks ago, the Taoiseach, as Head of Government, must inform the House as to whether the Government will propose a reduction in public expenditure of €5 billion.

I have provided three alternatives. The Government should reconsider whether to reduce investment in the capital programme by almost €1 billion. Infrastructure is critical. The VAT increase is devastating thousands of retailers within 50 miles of the Border. In light of the Minister for Finance's comments on the national pay deal this morning and given the way in which it was negotiated and the current financial circumstances, does the Taoiseach intend to revisit it and plough savings from it into public infrastructure, retraining, upskilling and the protection of jobs?

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