John Gormley (Dublin South East, Green Party)

As well as grappling with the problems of the past, we have worked hard to create the economy of the future, one in which our goods will be digitally traded and the energy balance of payments deficit of €6 billion – mostly through the import of fossil fuels - will be rectified in our favour. Such an economy will be created by a baseline electricity and broadband infrastructure. They are to the new economy what railroads were to the industrial revolution. The doubling of renewable energy sources on our energy system, the trebling of broadband provision and the €8 billion stimulus from the energy semi-State companies over the next four years will create and sustain thousands of jobs, jobs that cannot be outsourced in industries that have a long-term future. Much credit must go to my colleague, the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Deputy Ryan, for his work in these areas.

We can see there are grounds for hard fact-based hope, not blind optimism, in this regard. We have the youngest economy in Europe with one in three of our people under the age of 23 years. We have the highest proportion of graduates in the 25-to-34 year age group. Our direct inward investment is five times that of the OECD average.

Jobs in the ICT sector increased by 6% last year to 73,000 according to the national skills strategy. I have seen many of these new jobs in Google, Facebook and eBay. Thousands of Irish software companies sell their innovation to the rest of the world.

The new economy will be more durable than the old because we understand the inherent dangers of short-term thinking. We must get the basics right and learn from the incredible mistakes made over many decades such as the lack of regulation and the skewed tax system. We have much to recommend us as long as we harness our potential to long-term sustainable recovery. None of this will be easy or simple. We must retain our optimism and confidence in ourselves and in our people that we can and will emerge from this to overcome some of the greatest challenges ever to face this State.

Deputy Gilmore suggested the junior partners in the Government do not have the courage to leave it. I have said clearly, we want to stay to put through a budget. It takes courage to stay in to put through the toughest budget this country will ever see. I do not relish it but I will do it because it is the right course of action.

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