Maureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent)

I accept the Taoiseach's description of these times as a "period of unprecedented economic challenge". We need major initiatives, policies and programmes and extraordinary leadership, creativity and flexibility. Constructive and meaningful leadership can only be shown by leaders who have a real sense of the principles of social justice and fairness, rather than merely paying lip-service to such concepts. Given that leaders must lead by example, we must introduce significant cuts - not token ones - that will affect the Taoiseach, Ministers, Deputies and the President. I call on other leaders in society, such as the executives and chief executives of State and semi-State bodies, the Judiciary and the well-paid higher echelons of the medical and legal professions, the Civil Service, the universities and the trade unions, to lead by example by initiating significant cuts in their salaries, eradicating bonuses and cutting their expenses by at least half. The savings in question might appear small on the grand scale, but if they are implemented they will show the Government's willingness to share the pain. I dispute the Taoiseach's point that the Celtic tiger misled us all. Many people, including Professor Morgan Kelly, warned that the potential existed for a crisis in our banks, financial institutions and development projects. An obvious sign of the impending crisis was the over-spend on construction projects like Luas and the Dublin Port tunnel. If we could access the moneys that were over-spent, we might not be in this crisis. There must be a change in the financial policies we have pursued to date, which have brought us where we are. This Government and its predecessors have been responsible for allowing and facilitating such recklessness and greed.

Last Thursday in the Mansion House, I met people with physical and mental disabilities whose lives depend on assistance from carers. They are now living in fear. A civilised Government would have taken the first opportunity available to it to assure such people, as well as those whose sole income comes from social welfare, that they do not need to fear any budget. I remind the Taoiseach, who said we have to take "credible, thoughtful and resolute action", that such action should also be fair. If we are to be fair, the burden has to be shared equally. I ask the Government to eliminate those tax breaks that are mostly availed of by a small wealthy minority. As our tax take is one of the lowest in the developed world, I suggest it should be increased, broadened and deepened. We should increase corporation tax and impose a charge on international transactions. We must eliminate the waste that is identified in the reports of the Comptroller and Auditor General. We need to secure better value for money in the delivery of our public services. We should stop funding private education. We should not give away our natural resources, as we did with Shell. We must tackle welfare fraud. The drug-related money and assets that are seized by the Criminal Assets Bureau, including the proceeds of drug crime, should go directly to the communities, schools and projects that are most affected by the drugs industry. I want to acknowledge the positive things that are happening. Those who are not unduly affected by this crisis have to contribute more now.

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