Margaret Conlon (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)

People say we have not accepted mistakes were made but I do and I hope they will never be repeated.

However, we are debating economic and political stability. We also have a duty to be politically responsible. The national recovery plan and the EU-IMF-Commission programme have been published and the budget will be announced next week. When they are put in place, they will help us to achieve economic stability. Next week's budget will probably be the most important in the history of the State because it will play an important role in ensuring the economy recovers. If we did not have as severe as budget as we will have and if we did not have the national recovery plan, there would be greater tax increases and more severe spending cuts. It is in the national interest to implement both. We cannot continue to spend like we are spending. The deficit this year is €18.5 billion, which is unsustainable, and we have to take the necessary steps to reduce the budget deficit. Reducing the deficit on its own will not be enough.

We have to take other measures to solve our economic problems. We have to grow our economy, improve competitiveness and build on our export performance. Some people view the Government's plans and reforms as ambitious. We have witnessed a number of positive developments in recent months but they did not get the headlines they deserve. Unemployment has fallen for the third month in a row-----

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