Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)

We all recognise that our nation's finances are in a shocking state but until now the Government has been in denial. Even now I am not sure it realises or accepts how far it has allowed the country to drift. The spin from the Fianna Fáil press office is that this is a global recession; the message has gone out to all cumanns and it was noticeable at the Ard-Fheis as well. Even this morning in the Dáil, when strongly challenged by the Fine Gael leader, the Taoiseach three times tried to put on the record that this was all caused by global factors. He even refused to say the Government was sorry for the state it has brought the country to and the word "sorry" does not appear to be in his vocabulary. As our leader stated, the people deserve an apology for the ruthless mismanagement of the economy over the past 12 years and especially the past four years when the Taoiseach was Minister for Finance. One could count all the money that was wasted at that time.

I welcome the comments of the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, which are the nearest that anybody on the Government side has come to accepting some responsibility for the position we are in. He indicated the Government and country has been in crisis management since last July and particularly since last autumn. Everybody would agree on that but the Government has managed the crisis badly. There is no time now to enter into an analysis of the causes of the crisis as it affects Ireland but we must analyse the causes of crisis before we can solve them. The Minister of State also acknowledged that mistakes were made, and such an acknowledgement is welcome.

The Government and Opposition have distinct and equally honourable roles in a parliamentary democracy. The media seems to think everybody else should solve the Government's problem and although we in Opposition will be constructive, much of the responsibility lies with Government. The Minister of State sees no merit in calls for a national Government and what, in effect, would be a suspension of democracy. I completely agree with that as well. People will accept a great deal if measures are fair but people may feel they have been unfairly singled out.

The Government's strategy appears to be based on short-term political gain. It seems to want to struggle on until the local elections are over and it seems quite willing to do anything except take the necessary corrective action. It set up an bord snip and the Commission on Taxation, pretending there was no problem or that somebody else could solve the problem. This was instead of having the responsibility resting with the Government although it will have to solve the problem in the long run. The Government left the country adrift and did not take decisive action. Even last week the Tánaiste stated there were no problems with our finances. People are looking for leadership but not getting it. The Government has not come clean in telling people the real solution.

The estimates from last July were that the Exchequer would be €500 million short in revenues. Later in the year the estimate was €1 billion and in January the estimate was €2 billion, although the Government did nothing about it. We discovered today that €4 billion must be raised to balance the books. At the eleventh hour and when the horse has bolted, the Government has invited the Opposition to look at the books, although our positive suggestions were scorned over the past eight or nine months. The Opposition will play its part in a constructive manner but the Government must accept its responsibility. I am glad the Minister of State has outlined this in what is one of the best contributions from the Government side since the debate began.

It will be significant if the Government and Taoiseach do not accept responsibility for their serious mistakes. They must recognise and admit the problem before it can be solved. The Minister of State referred to fairness but those in the public sector do not consider it fair that people on €25,000 or €35,000 must pay the so-called pension levy despite already paying a 1% income levy. Those on €80,000, €100,000, €150,000 or more are not proportionately penalised to the extent of those who are low paid. People are ready to make the necessary sacrifices if leadership is forthcoming from the Government. We have seen a bit of this leadership from the Minister of State.

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