Seán Haughey (Dublin North Central, Fianna Fail)

It is now widely recognised by independent commentators that we are taking the right approach and making the tough decisions. The Central Bank, the IMF and the ESRI are broadly in favour of the economic policies we are pursuing. Other bodies, such as the European Commission and the OECD, forecast a return to positive growth in the near future.

The fact we are meeting our budgetary targets for public expenditure and taxation illustrates that the economy is stabilising. Manufacturing output and retail sales figures are improving and labour costs are falling. Unemployment figures, while still high, show signs of stabilising.

Perhaps Opposition Deputies, with their rose tinted glasses, would have us believe they had the foresight to predict our current difficulties but this is far from the truth. Their 2007 election tax policies and their proposals on stamp duty for first time buyers would have added further fuel to the property bubble had the previous Government followed their inappropriate advice. Over the past decade, few people called for increases in stamp duty. Many more wanted it to be reduced but, thankfully, this demand was resisted by the Government. If the structural deficit that is now apparent in our public finances was to have been avoided campaigners in recent elections should have called for increases in personal taxation, a property tax, water rates and the abolition of certain tax reliefs.

Perhaps there is a need for a collective mea culpa from all the main political parties. Focusing on past activity is a necessary part of the discourse of every democratic society but a preoccupation with past events to the detriment of addressing present difficulties is like fiddling while Rome burns. We are attempting to stabilise the public finances and we have taken steps to protect the banking system and implement several measures to enhance our competitiveness. The Government has published its economic blueprint, Building Ireland's Smart Economy: A Framework for Sustainable Economic Renewal. Any fair-minded person would agree that the Taoiseach and the Government have made great strides in tackling the unprecedented crisis we face.

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