Áine Brady (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

I will be sharing my time with Deputies Jimmy Devins, Mattie McGrath, Maureen O'Sullivan, Finian McGrath and Joe Behan.

As we continue to debate the state of our economy, it is important to place this debate in an accurate context. We have to be clear about the challenges we face, but we must equally outline our strengths which we have built together over many years, and over the past 20 years in particular. While the difficulties we face are significant, it is vital to paint the real picture of these difficulties. It is vital, not just for the wider financial community, but also for our own community's self confidence, that we do not succumb to the tendency to report our current situation in almost fatal terms, or to overstate and hype our difficulties. Using emotive and alarming language, which does not give an accurate reflection or a true picture of challenges we face, places our economy in an even more perilous state than at present. Our problems are bad enough and we should not exaggerate the situation and presenting a doomsday scenario which only makes the challenges we face more acute. I welcome the many constructive proposals we have heard from all sides of the House during this debate.

As we reflect on the current state of the economy, it is important to take stock of the investment we have made in our economy in recent years. This investment is now the platform on which to sow the seeds for future growth in our economy. We have transformed the infrastructure surrounding us. The Taoiseach recently opened our new world class convention centre, which, together with the new Grand Canal Theatre and the O2 Arena, serviced by Luas, has rejuvenated the docklands area and places Dublin in an ideal position to improve our tourism industry, attract international conferences and enhance our culture and arts infrastructure.

The International Financial Services Centre, a product of Irish entrepreneurship, continues to provide employment to our people. The IFSC is now linked to the O2 by the new Luas line, while the city centre is now also accessible by road from all parts of the country via our new motorway system and the Dublin port tunnel. The north Kildare area, which I represent, has a comprehensive public transport link to the revamped docklands area, via the Maynooth rail line, Kildare route line and Luas.

We have wisely invested in many sports facilities. Sports stadia such as Croke Park and the new Aviva Stadium at Lansdowne road are both financially supported by the State and are world-class stadia. Many sporting clubs throughout the country received financial assistance over the past 12 years to improve local sports facilities and provide a solid base for generating an interest in sports among young people. The new Terminal 2 at Dublin Airport, will open next month and this will be a key piece of infrastructure for our air transport industry for many years to come.

The major inter-urban routes between Dublin and all the regional cities, including the Limerick tunnel were completed ahead of schedule and within budget. These are delivering dramatic reductions in travel time between our main cities, greatly increasing the competitiveness of our economy and contributing to a reduction in the number of accidents on our road network.

Notwithstanding future investment in public transport, as outlined in Transport 21, we have seen significant improvements to date in our public transport infrastructure, with many public transport companies providing enhanced services to commuters. I have seen at first hand the improvements that have taken place.

We have invested in a comprehensive bus priority scheme which has improved bus travel times not just for city commuters in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Galway, but also for commuters from the greater Dublin area. Indeed, the investment in inter-urban motorways has also enabled public transport providers to enhance and improve the services they provide for commuters from the regions.

Our over-riding priority now is to drive forward the process of economic recovery. Despite the challenges we face, and apart from the infrastructural improvements, we have other strengths and it is important that we highlight these strengths. Foreign direct investment is very significant to our economy and continues to be an important source of new jobs. Figures from the Irish Exporters Association show a 12.8% growth in merchandise exports in the third quarter and a 9% increase in total exports on the same period last year.

The role of Government is to create an environment in which business can invest with confidence and thereby provide employment opportunities. We are determined to maintain our pro-business taxation policy, which has been, and continues to be, so successful in bringing foreign direct investment to Ireland. As has been pointed out by other speakers in this debate, there are three essential building blocks to ensure that we foster and utilise our national resources and achieve our goal of providing jobs for our people. The successful resolution of these three key challenges - competitiveness, the public finances, and the supply of credit - is key to forming a basis for future growth. The decisions we have taken are the right and responsible ones to address the problems we face and to lay the foundations for economic recovery.

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