Martin Mansergh (Tipperary South, Fianna Fail)

I wish to repeat a very good point made yesterday by a Fine Gael Senator in the Seanad. One of the principal merits of the plan is that providing a future outline of how we can reach a target of less than 3% of GDP will create confidence. Of course detailed provisions can be changed or substituted by the next government. If the Government was remaining in office it would probably have to change and substitute some details itself. However, the broad thrust is there and I believe the next government will broadly adopt it as an outline. Given the circumstances of the assistance that is required from the EU and the IMF, it will need to do so but, as I say, this is subject to the caveat that alternatives can be substituted.

It needs to be understood by the public that with a gap of €18.5 billion, it is not open to us to continue borrowing except on the basis of a plan such as this. We need to be able to borrow if we are to pay out all of the cheques which a government pays out, including to social welfare recipients, public servants and contractors.

Much play has been made of the question of sovereignty. I would like to make the point, and it has been made by several commentators already, that this is our own plan which was prepared largely before we entered into discussions with the IMF and the EU. This is not an IMF or EU diktat, although I think there are one or two sectors of opinion who wish it were. Certain columnists associated with a particular Sunday newspaper seem to be raging that the IMF and EU have not insisted on tearing up the Croke Park deal and social partnership with it.

I see the reduction of the minimum wage not in a negative, but in a positive light. The extent that it makes more jobs available is of benefit to people and not a detriment to them. I know it is particularly important to the hotel and hospitality industries. It is by no means the case that it is always the poorest people on the minimum wage. Many students taking part-time employment are on the minimum wage to supplement their income. If all other wages and incomes in the economy have been reduced, it is logical that the minimum wage, which was the second highest in Europe, be adjusted also.

I could not help but contrast the attitude of the Labour Party spokesperson on the economy in the Seanad yesterday, who criticised it mildly and stated he would like to see more evidence to support its merits as it has no direct impact on the public finances, with that of the Fine Gael spokesperson, Deputy Bruton, who spoke on radio this morning and who was much more hard line in opposition. I would like to make a prediction. In my belief, the incoming government, regardless of what may be said during an election campaign, will not alter this decision.

From the late 1990s through to 2008 there were increases in social welfare way above the rate of inflation. We have had some deflation in our economy over the past couple of years. I am not in the least suggesting that there is not some real reduction taking place but it has to be set in the context of the large increases previously.

A point is made quite frequently about political salaries, which have been reduced by approximately 20% at ministerial level. People are asking what further sacrifices will be made. The answer is in higher levels of taxation. The salary of Deputy is tied to that of principal officer and that of Senator is tied to assistant principal officer. Under the Croke Park agreement no further reductions in salaries are contemplated.

A question was asked about the basis of the projections of growth. The answer is partly the background of a recovering world economy, but in particular the improvements in export competitiveness, where our exports have increased in real terms by 6% in the past year.

There is to be a moratorium on new road starts in 2012 and 2013. Even though this will affect my constituency, I think it is understandable. A huge amount has been done. The most recent analysis showed there is spare capacity on our roads and this is an area that in the current circumstances has to wait. I am glad metro north will go ahead. It is important, not least for our tourism industry, that our airport like other European airports should be rail connected to the city centre.

I am glad to see that agriculture is relatively unscathed. I am also pleased that my office, the Office of Public Works, despite having a cut in expenditure of more than one third, is able to undertake the essential jobs it is tasked with doing, especially flood relief which I have protected, and also ongoing heritage and building works. As Minister of State, I am happy to stand over what is in the national recovery plan with regard to the Office of Public Works.

All of this takes place against a much larger canvas, which is, as the German Government pointed out, an existential battle to maintain the eurozone in which we happen to be in the front line currently. It is in our essential interest that this battle is won. We, as eurozone members, must play our part. We need to internalise the logic and the disciplines of belonging to the eurozone. Perhaps in the early years we felt we did not have to or it all seemed to go more smoothly than we expected. We have now seen the hard side of eurozone membership, but it is well worth persisting with it. I have great hopes for the future of the economy and believe that despite the reservations that have been expressed about various parts of this plan by Opposition parties, the next Government - if it is the current Opposition - will largely adopt this plan and work with it as if it was their own.

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