Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The working method to be decided by the parties will emerge, based on the political discussions that will take place between now and the autumn. We will come forward with a reviewed programme before the return of the Dáil in late September. The method to be adopted is a matter for the parties concerned, and we will proceed on a pragmatic basis. We intend to maintain majority support for the programme, including the support of Independent Deputies for which we are grateful, in the interest of bringing stability back to the country's finances and ensuring that we work our way through the biggest economic crisis to the hit the world economy since the 1930s. That is the work that will be undertaken over the next three years and we hope to have the support of sufficient Members of this House to do so.

Subject to the availability of resources, we will continue to give the greatest possible priority to continue with the school building programme, as I mentioned to Deputy Kenny in a previous reply. The amount of resources that provide for social welfare is at a record level. Apart from the recent phenomenon of rising unemployment, the rates and provisions for social welfare recipients is a record of which I am very proud, as a member of successive Governments. Deputy Ó Caoláin has asked about maintaining basic rates, but we have exceeded the rates to maintain standards of living for those on pensions in those periods when we had resources available to us. In some cases, the rate of increase in social welfare in any given year was four times the rate of inflation. That is rightly the case because we were seeking to achieve social objectives arising out of the success of the economic policies that were being pursued at the time.

We are now in a new situation but I do not accept the allegation that the public is being softened up. This is about confronting the magnitude of the problems that the country faces and which will require difficult choices. All areas of expenditure have to be examined in an objective fashion, in an effort to bring us through this period. We need to know the sustainable level of expenditure that this country can provide, given the current level of our revenues. We need to know how soon we can return growth to the economy and bring more revenues to the Exchequer so that we can rebuild and go further again.

As a member of the euro area we are required under the Stability and Growth Pact rules to bring our deficits back to less than 3% by 2013. That is an agreement we have with partners in the EU and this set of rules applies to any Government in the coming years. It is not a question of softening up anybody, but a question of making sure that everyone has a clear understanding of the magnitude of the challenges that face us, the choices confronting us and how we are going to proceed. That is a matter of political choice about which there will be much political debate.

This is not a cynical exercise. It is about bringing to the attention of the people the state of the public finances, the choices we have, and the spending programmes that must be examined. Ultimately, it will be a decision of the Cabinet and of this House. That is the democratic nature of our politics and is the serious task that the Government intends to undertake in the coming months.

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