Barry Andrews (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Nobody was able to identify it. Naturally the Government was criticised and naturally the Government defended itself but nobody foresaw those risks would happen at the same time. It would be wrong of anybody to make that claim as it would be dishonest.

The Government took action by announcing the smart economy initiative and the innovation fund before Christmas and there has been a €2 billion fiscal adjustment which is the subject of this debate. There has been a capital investment plan which is predicated on job creation. Unlike what has been said on the Labour benches, we have a plan that is greater than most of our European colleagues in terms of capital investment, constituting 5% of GDP. We are reforming banking. Nobody could have seen the damage that was done to the banks by the behaviour of some of our executives but many have now resigned or retired and that process will continue. We need a complete clean-out of some of the top people in the banking sector. The Government has shown courage and resolve in this crisis in tackling these issues.

We have a progressive tax system but this fact is denied by people in the Labour Party who say there is not fairness in the tax system. However, the top 9% of income earners pay almost half of all income tax. This is not acknowledged by the Labour Party which turns a blind eye to the international situation. At the very first hint of criticism, the Labour Party panicked and produced a document last Saturday which, as the Minister for Finance said yesterday, is back of the envelope stuff. This shows that whatever difficulties they have ——

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