Paul Connaughton Snr (Galway East, Fine Gael)

I have little time, so I have only two pieces of advice for the Government. However it manages the budget, I hope that it will not make the hames of it that it made of the past two, which were patently unfair for the worst off among us. The Government has all the figures at its disposal and one could not foresee again that it could make such a hames of a budget.

I know as well as everybody else in the Dáil tonight that we face a significant problem. We know that it will be a budget the likes of which we have not seen. Whatever else, if the Government wants to bring people with it, at least be fair. I always say that the broader the shoulder, the greater the load, in other words, those who are able to carry the load financially are the ones who should be asked to do it. The Government did not do that on the last occasion.

My final point was mentioned a moment ago by Deputy Lee. Whatever else it does, the Government must ensure that the job creation policies are put in place. Please God, we will find ourselves in a competitive state in the next year or two. All of the factors would seem to indicate that we will be able to produce much more competitively in the next couple of years due to the downward pressure on prices of goods and services. We should at least be in a position to make the most of it.

On job creation and the smart economy, I see no reason why wind energy, wave energy and the like would not be able to support import substitution, and that we will not be able to create thousand of jobs in consequence with a consequent improvement in the balance of payments. This is an opportunity for the Government on budget day to put the building blocks in place on that. It takes courage and imagination, both of which qualities the Government does not possess in abundance, but I sincerely hope it will catch on to it on this occasion.

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