Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

A few years ago there was a headline in one of the daily newspapers which said, "It's payback time". I never knew what that meant at the time but I know now because this is definitely payback time. The Government has turned on the entire population and has issued a pummelling to it that has never been witnessed since the foundation of the State.

It is not one single measure that is causing the problem. This is not personal; the Taoiseach is a decent and affable fellow and I have no doubt he does not want to do this. The series of hits that the public will have to take would be bad enough if taken one at a time, but taken all together can only have one effect, namely, to damage the economy further. Any prospect of economic recovery is gone out the window. Nobody will want to spend money because nobody will have any money to spend. The Government will have taken it from them; it will have stuck its hands in their pockets and walked away with it.

I cannot see how this can improve the competitiveness of the economy. How will this create jobs? It will do nothing except assist the Government in paying the bills it ran up of its own accord over the last eight or nine years by buying two elections. Two elections were bought and paid for, but the public will now have to pay.

I am amazed the Taoiseach has not gone to the country with this. It deserves to be put to the people. The public do not approve of this kind of nonsense. If they had known about this two years ago they would not have voted for the Government, but they did. If they got an opportunity now they would not vote for them. The only reaction I can have to the proposals I have heard today is one of shock. In my time in this House I have never seen such a concerted and concentrated attack on the public. The result of this is likely to be more negative than anything we have seen so far.

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