Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

It is 40 days since the House last met. In that time the Government and the Taoiseach have wandered through an economic desert bereft of ideas, decisions, direction and, dare I say it, the courage to govern. In that period we were told that it was necessary to cut €2 billion from public spending. The Government went on holidays, sent papers to, and held meetings with, the social partners and borrowed €55 million a day to keep the nation going. The Government's indecision has damaged our international standing and made us the butt of international jokes while the cost of money spirals to a dangerous level; people are frightened out of their wits at the loss of, and inability to protect, jobs, and because the Government is offering neither leadership nor direction on its plan, strategy or the decisions it intends to take to move the economy forward with the confidence and trust to which people can respond.

The time for talk is over and it is time for decisions. When does the Taoiseach intend to announce his decisions on public finances, job protection, and restoring the confidence and trust that will give people some semblance of a direction to follow and a structure to discuss?

See this speech in context