Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

The investments we made were not wrong in that respect. On the contrary, almost all were necessary and worthwhile. It is especially important to note that the tax revenues raised during those years were used to engage in unprecedented capital investments to provide key infrastructure such as roads, public transport projects, schools and third level research facilities. Infrastructure has greatly increased our productive capacity and will be essential in returning the economy to a sustainable growth rate when global conditions improve. These investments benefit the quality of life of our citizens and strengthen the prospects of recovery.

The report suggests that we should have had a totally counter-cyclical policy. I understand the macro-economic theory behind this but I know also, as a politician and public representative, that in the context of the debate that was being had in this House by public representatives of the people, many were asking, and rightly so, if not now, when are we going to deal with some of these historic under-investment problems in terms of education, health and social welfare and improvements in our pension provisions for our people? I do not suggest that this allows people to consider, based on how things developed subsequently, that one would not look back with the benefit of hindsight and would, if one could reasonably expect this was going to happen, have pursued a more restrictive fiscal policy in the previous years.

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