Chris Andrews (Dublin South East, Fianna Fail)

In addition, the budget will provide an opportunity for the Government to demonstrate its leadership and to restore confidence. It is clear that people are concerned and worried. As stated, there is no silver bullet, magic wand or road map to follow because nobody has been through this before. The constant drip of negative news in past couple of months, over which the Government had no control, has eroded public confidence and made people wary of what is to come. With the new budget in place, people will be able to accurately assess their financial situation and begin to plan and, it is hoped, spend once more.

On Ireland's international reputation, a well thought-out and planned budget will help to repair some of the damage done in recent months in terms of the negative effect the banking difficulties have had on our reputation. It will help to restore international confidence in our economy and our ability to manage it. What we do here and how it is perceived internationally is important. Ireland cannot do economic stimulus in the way some of the big economies are doing it. America is injecting trillions into stimulating its economy. Ireland is a small country which currently is uncompetitive, which is impacting on us. We cannot do stimulus in the same way that America or some of the bigger countries can.

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