Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

-----fuels misinformation about the economy and makes it more difficult and costly for Ireland to fund itself in international financial markets. The country is not bankrupt. We have a flexible and resilient economy that is adjusting rapidly to the new economic circumstances. We have world-class, modern export industries built in a low tax, pro-enterprise business environment that the Government is committed to maintaining. This strength is reflected in the resilience of our exports which decreased by 5% in the early months of the year compared with a decline of 20% to 25% in most other European countries.

Our external financial position is improving, despite the increase in State borrowing. We are moving from a decade-long position where we were a net borrower abroad to having an external debt that is actually falling. Our underlying economic strengths, fostered by significant investment in education and productive infrastructure in the past decade, will ensure that, if we make the right decisions now, we will rebound from the current slump. In the words of the recent ESRI report on our medium-term prospects, "the Irish economy, as long as it regains competitiveness, can be expected to grow quite rapidly in the 2011-2015 period".

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