Michael Kennedy (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. Slowly but surely we are getting some degree of consensus, which is very welcome, although there are still people who want to throw criticism around. That is the nature of politics.

Today I listened to Deputies Enda Kenny and Eamon Gilmore; in his opening remarks to the Taoiseach Deputy Kenny said the days of bluffing are over and Deputy Gilmore argued that today's debate should be about solutions. I fully agree with those sentiments. The time has moved on from bluffing, spoofing and not offering solutions. It was quite ironic that Fionnan Sheehan in the Irish Independent today had a headline which read "Fine Gael's proposals for savings lack the ring of truth." He also criticised Deputy Gilmore for speaking out of both sides of his mouth.

We must move on as the country is in a fairly severe crisis. Criticising each other on what happened five years, ten years or 20 years in the past does not achieve anything and certainly does not provide a solution. The public has moved on and wants to hear solutions from this Chamber to the problems which they are experiencing, whether it is with a mortgage, a job or pay. On this side of the House we accept a share of the blame for the mistakes made with tax on property sales. I put on the record my abhorrence of the reckless banking decisions which led to buildings in the middle of nowhere; such decisions were wrong but they should be acknowledged and we should move on. Society expects us to formulate solutions to those problems.

I welcome the commitment given by the Minister for Finance, Deputy Brian Lenihan, that he would give all financial data to all parties, including facts on taxation, employment etc. I would like to think that on 1 December, all the facts relating to VAT receipts and the self-employed tax receipts which have a deadline at the end of this month will be made available to the Opposition. It can then put forward a realistic four-year plan that we have all agreed with a target of a 3% of GDP deficit by 2014. It should be upfront and the people should be able to see exactly what each party is doing.

This is not just about answering questions from constituents and we must realise that the money men and women in Europe who lend us the €20 billion per year now are watching us. If they are not satisfied that, as a country, we are taking corrective action, they will either increase interest rates or not give us the money. We need that money now.

In returning to a healthy economy we must be innovative in how we consider solutions and job creation. We agree that the tough budgets to come, irrespective of who will be in Government over the next three to four years, must be fair. We all agree that we must protect vulnerable people. I have made the case before and will make it again that we should not cut old age State pensions. That is one group which has put so much into Ireland, people who have worked all their lives, paid their taxes and built up the country.

On the jobs front, having a reasonable capital budget is absolutely vital. I am not being parochial in mentioning metro north, as it not only applies to my constituency of Dublin North but includes all constituencies north of the Liffey, including Meath and south Louth. It is the single biggest contract in Europe currently and I hope and have requested that the Government sanctions the metro north project. I am slightly disappointed in the attitude of Deputy Eamon Gilmore in a recent interview, as he said he would not be in favour of the project now. That is slightly contradictory given that Labour is rightly making the case on jobs, with an unemployment figure of 440,000. This project will create 4,000 jobs directly, and as per the Indecon report prepared for Fingal County Council, it will create another 37,000 jobs indirectly.

This is the single biggest project that would create 4,000 jobs overnight, costing in the order of €3 billion. There would be substantial VAT payments and significant direct employment. It would be of major benefit to the country not just the Dublin North region. We cannot ignore the need to have proper modern infrastructure that a country like Ireland requires. We are one of the few European cities without a rail link to an airport.

On the jobs front, the Government might take cognisance of a delegation that came in here from the Insurance Brokers Association, which made a presentation about using private pension money to put into the Irish economy; there are currently restrictions in legislation in this regard. The Minister for Finance and the Government should give serious consideration to getting every avenue they have available to them in people willing to invest in Irish infrastructure and development.

One of the big problems we have on the jobs issue is the lack of spending. There is over €80 billion saved in personal bank accounts and if only 2.5% of that could be released into the economy, it would amount to €2 billion, which would be a substantial spend in all our local communities. We must come up with innovative ways to make this happen. I do not blame people for not spending as they constantly hear doom and gloom day in and day out. I recommend that the Government consider a voucher scheme in which the Government and retailers would put forward €10 each for every €100 spent by a consumer. This would be a great fillip for consumers, who never look good value in the mouth.

The car scrappage scheme introduced this year has proved a point as motor sales have increased by over 60%. This does not simply apply to cars over ten years old, and through good marketing and innovation on the part of the motor industry, people have changed their cars. There has been a significant uptake in car sales this year as a result. I believe that the voucher scheme I propose, with €20 from the Government and retailers for €100 spent by shoppers, would be self-financing. It is something I hope will be considered.

I have always felt the €10 travel tax was a reasonable proposal by the Government and it is taking in over €120 million. At this stage I would call Michael O'Leary's bluff and give him the incentive to bring millions of passengers to the country, along with Aer Lingus and other airlines, by dropping it. We must get to grips with the significant pay packets in our semi-State bodies, the political arena and in the Judiciary, which I have mentioned before. Only 75% of judges pay the levy, which is unacceptable in this day and age. We must all play our part and show leadership.

We have heard much about the Government getting forecasts wrong. I read a report yesterday indicating that the OECD advised President Obama that there would be a 3.2% growth rate in the US this year but that has been revised down to 2.6%. Ireland is not the only country getting forecasts wrong.

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