John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Ring spoke about the new Members being lively and he may not be listening to me but somebody might relate to him that some of the old Members are still quite lively given his own performance. I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate and I wish to use the opportunity to clarify a number of issues that have arisen under which I call "false circumstances".

It has often been said that the financial and economic situation in which we find ourselves could and should have been foreseen. I remind Members on the opposite side of the House that two years ago their policy manifestos for the general election made no reference to and had no foresight or vision of what was coming down the tracks. Their policy documents, similar to many others, showed growth for the period from 2008-11 at a rate of 4%. To predict the future was not possible and nobody saw it coming. It is easy with hindsight to say that we saw it.

People asked where are all the good times gone but regarding the myth that the boom has been squandered, nothing could be further from the truth. The income generated during the good times was spent wisely and that has afforded us particular opportunities now. Specifically, we reduced our national debt to among the lowest in Europe and built up a pensions reserve fund. It is because we made those strategic moves in good times that these options are available to us now in challenging times.

Another criticism of the Government is that it did not know what it was doing. That is a spin and a load of rubbish. The reality is that the Government acted in a timely fashion on numerous occasions to deal with the problem and ensure that the finances of the State were kept in check. Last July, it dealt with spending adjustments to Departments. It brought forward the budget to October and a supplementary budget in April of this year. That was done not because we got it wrong but in response to a changing position. We moved in a timely fashion. Others would have sat on the fence and considered how we might deal with it years into the future.

Opposition Members have been lacking and dishonest in what they say they would do. We have made tough decisions and paid a political price for that. We have cut expenditure across a range of issues. We have increased taxes, and they are not popular. We did not do that by choice but out of necessity to balance and bring stability to the public finances. I have yet to hear somebody on the Opposition benches say where they would raise the money and the taxes they would have increased.

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