Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on this motion. While we welcome any opportunity that gives the Government and Opposition Members an opportunity to speak on the very serious challenges facing this country and its people, it is important we outline the difficult decisions that have been made and their results, as well as the hopes and aspirations that people have in the context of addressing the budget deficit, addressing the balance sheets of the impaired banks and making sure we have a credit flow to the broader economy which will bear fruit and will see a turn in Ireland's fortunes.

The proposal by the Labour Party with regard to the establishment of a strategic investment bank gives us an opportunity to highlight what the Government has done, where we have come from and what we are trying to achieve in ensuring that credit flows to small and medium size businesses. It is vital we repair the competitiveness of the economy and that we try to turn this corner and get back to what we are good at as a nation, namely, being innovative and entrepreneurial and developing the whole area of exports.

If we are to address the huge challenges that face the country, it is important we acknowledge where we have come from. I do not accept we can blandly state that the economy was driven to despair and distraction in recent years given it has expanded hugely in the past ten or 12 years. At one stage, we had an employment level of more than 2 million people and there has been huge investment in infrastructure across all aspects, including roads, rail, water, sewerage, broadband, hospitals and education, including at third level. Every aspect of the economy has increased its capacity and capability to deliver better services. In addition, there was a huge increase in exports in recent years.

To suggest the only problems facing Ireland are internal simply does not address the fundamental issue, which is that there is a world recession. Ireland is an open trading economy and we, more than any other country, are vulnerable to the whims of the international economy. To suggest the property bubble inflation was the ill and that by addressing it, we will solve all our problems is simply not a credible argument. We must restore competitiveness. This is very painful for many people in this country and while it means a redressing and re-balancing of our living standards and our expectations, it also means there will be wage deflation in certain parts of the economy more than others. This is simply something that has to be achieved, and anybody who denies it is simply not being honest with themselves, is delusional, does not understand the basics of economics or is just being disingenuous and populist.

The motion highlights a number of aspects which the Government is trying to address. I accept there is a difficulty due to a lack of credit flowing to small and medium size businesses. However, the strategic investment bank as proposed by the Labour Party, would have been of critical importance if it had been in government when the bank guarantee was introduced, simply because the Labour Party would not have brought forward a guarantee. We would not even have a banking system that is potentially viable or capable of being salvaged, as is the case now and as a result of the brave decisions of the Government at the time when the country was facing the abyss. We do not have to go too far even within the eurozone to see the difficulties being faced by some countries which are unable to access credit because their credit worthiness is so downgraded and they are unable to borrow.

This Government has achieved much. It increased employment to historically high levels and decreased unemployment to historically low levels. It invested significantly in infrastructure, reduced the national debt and invested in the National Pensions Reserve Fund, something which the Labour Party wanted to pillage on many occasions for other populist ideas at the time. Most international commentators have acknowledged that Ireland has achieved a lot in the short time we have faced this crisis and as a result of the decisions made by the Government. However, we are far from out of the woods and we must be conscious that everybody in this House, on all sides, has an obligation to at least be responsible in his or her comments. They must, at least, acknowledge that the very difficult decisions being taken by the Irish people will be of benefit and hopefully will get us to the other side of this recession intact and as a sovereign State with a credit worthiness befitting the Irish people.

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