Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to address this motion and in particular to support the amendment. It is difficult for all of us to comprehend the scale of the problem in our public finances at present. The gap of €18 billion is difficult to comprehend when one considers that we had surpluses recently. We must recognise and accept that the cost of running the State for the coming year will be €55 billion while we will try to operate on the basis of revenues of €37 billion. It will be an enormous task for the Government to try to bring about a resolution over a period of time. It is coping with this as best it can in very difficult circumstances.

It is clear that Ireland is not alone in this regard although there has been an exercise by some to suggest that a couple of builders, politicians and bankers caused this problem. This is an international crisis. As Vice Chairman of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Affairs I was in Brussels last week to attend a joint parliamentary meeting. If we think we have problems, it is clear from speaking with parliamentarians from throughout Europe that they have similar situations and, in some cases, more severe difficulties than we have. If it was our problem alone we could trade out of it but this is not the situation. Our trading partners are severely restricted because of the state of their finances and this makes the problems for us far more difficult.

We are where we are I suppose and as Bill Clinton stated, one must play the hand of cards one is dealt rather than the hand one would like. The Government has to take action and is doing so to address this crisis. It has put in place a plan to chart a route back to a balanced budget. The reason it has to do this is a requirement to balance the books. We are part of the Growth and Stability Pact in Europe and it is a requirement to get back into line with the recommendations of this. We have sought and received an accommodation that will allow us to do this over a period of time. We cannot borrow to the extent that some on the Opposition benches want. We cannot do so because it would affect our capacity to borrow and pay back in the future. The greater the borrowing we do now, the greater the burden we put on future generations. Those who saw how we traded out of it in the past would not want to see it again.

The decision to place the levy will burden all public sector workers. Among the people I have met there is as much annoyance among those on €60,000 as there is among those on €25,000. Anybody who has an income in any of these brackets has developed a lifestyle which requires this money to be spent. The money is not there to meet their demands. It is unfortunate but this is the situation. Nobody in either the public or private sector can afford a reduction in income but unfortunately it must happen in this case.

We must implement cost savings and I suppose over time we will see an increase in taxation to try to bring about equilibrium between what it costs to run the State and what we raise. The levy is just the beginning in many cases and the Government has indicated that over the next four to five years significant steps will have to be taken to bring back the notion of a balanced budget.

The public servants I have met are prepared to play their part but they want equality. They believe it is vital that equality is the bedrock of the system. They want to see those who have damaged the reputation of our banking system brought to book and I am confident that this will happen. I am delighted that the Taoiseach today outlined his vision and his views on this.

While the Opposition is attempting to fool or mislead the public——

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