Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

First, the European Commission forecasts were issued on 4 May and predict GDP to contract by 9% in 2009. Concerning its forecasts on the size of the deficit, the Commission warmly welcomed the recent budget introduced here and was very supportive of it. Both the Commission and the chairman of the Finance Ministers at Eurogroup have praised the approach taken by this country with regard to budgetary matters. The Commission, the European Central Bank and the Council of Finance Ministers made very clear to me that they believe the Irish Government has taken the correct course of action given the scale of the difficulties we face. That has been made abundantly clear in recent days and it is important we notice that, as a country. It means that international confidence is being restored in Ireland and that is very important.

I was asked about the awareness of Government - which, I am glad to advise the Deputy, is a collective entity, comprising 15 members - of these difficulties. First and foremost, the Deputy questioned whether the Government recognised the gravity of the social crisis facing Ireland. In addition to the financial and banking crises, there is a very severe social crisis caused by the increase in joblessness. That is why the Taoiseach has continued to engage with the social partners to see whether they can work towards a common approach in addressing this social crisis. In addition, various measures were announced in the budget, including the stabilisation fund for enterprise and the various job training opportunities. These go only some of the way, as Deputy Burton pointed out, and clearly we must deepen and intensify such approaches.

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