John Moloney (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

If I could continue without being interrupted, there has been major investment in housing in the past 15 years. People talk about high mortgages, and I accept that, but I recall the days when there were very long housing lists. I can now speak of funding for public housing, voluntary housing and social housing. There has been major investment in our roads infrastructure in the past 15 years. I want to record also the huge increase in investment in our health services.

Many strategies were brought before this House in the past few years and the position now, and it is not by our own creation, is that we are facing a worldwide economic recession affecting every economic powerhouse in Europe and the United States. One would think from listening to the Members in this House that that economic recession was brought about by this Government and that it affected Wall Street, the City of London, Paris and elsewhere. This is a world recession and this Government is dealing with it in the way it is expected to do so, not with the support of many on the opposite side of the House.

Nevertheless, Government's responsibility is to govern and to give leadership and I am pleased to say this Government has outlined its programme, not just for this year but for the next four years. The difficulty for governments is that they must take unpopular decisions but they have done that. At the same time we cannot have an unpopular strategy of rushing into this House and picking and choosing where the least difficulties could occur when reducing expenditure. Consistent within the Government's programme in the past few months is the need to secure support across the social partners. That did not work out and we have now reached the point where the Government must effect those savings.

We must take into account the domestic pressures not just on the Irish economy but also by way of the contraction of enterprise worldwide. I reject the accusation that we depended far too much on the construction industry. This country has benefited from private enterprise involved in risk taking. We have a standard of housing we never had previously and if people believe we should have invested in some other quarter and not recognised the huge demand pre-1980s for modern facilities and housing, I would point to what has been achieved in those areas.

In framing this position the Government recently published the revised forecast for the period 2008-13. It showed that without corrective action, the general Government deficit for each of the years to 2013 would have been approximately between 11% and 12% of gross domestic product. The Government is prioritising the elimination of the current budget deficit by 2013 and bringing the general Government deficit below 3% of gross domestic product. Doing this in a shorter period would be so great a shock to the economy as to be counterproductive. Following the end of the partnership talks in Government Buildings, the Government has clearly shown leadership in dealing with the public finances. It has not introduced a quick fix but is strategically managing them. The cuts being proposed for the next four years will return us to a position in which we can generate our own wealth.

The issue of the national debt is also a factor in driving the Government's policy. The Exchequer funding requirement for 2009 is €23 billion, comprising a budget deficit of €18 billion and the re-financing of a maturing bond of €5 billion in April. The Government has already secured €6 billion of this year's requirement though the issuance of a five year bond in January.

The House should not be at cross purposes in dealing with the economy. I believe in the call made on budget day by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, that we should be patriotic in how we deal with the public finances and the economic problems affecting not just this country but the world. I appeal to Members not to make speeches for the sake of being critical of the Government but to bear in mind we are in this together. This is not a self-created difficulty caused by any one party in the House but reflects the worldwide economic downturn.

The Taoiseach has the ability and the stamina to show us the way forward and bring the economy with him. I appreciate the approach to tackling the problem has been honest rather than through soundbites, photo shoots or spin. The people have been given a clear direction as to how to deal with the economic downturn.

See this speech in context