Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The cuts to payments for the disabled, the blind, the carers and widows are saving a further €90 million. We pointed out that those savings, and more, could have been achieved by different methods including an additional €260 million in public service payroll savings, including bigger cuts at the top, and a more ambitious rationalisation programme than this Government is intending to achieve through the Croke Park deal. An additional €340 million could be saved by closing tax breaks for the rich, including an immediate suspension of legacy property based reliefs for developers which was extended by the Taoiseach as Taoiseach and as Minister for Finance, and an additional €700 million from cutting the cost of pensions tax relief, particularly for the well heeled. These figures were costed by the Department of Finance, and they add up.

Perhaps we should suspend all business and just talk about what is contained in page 15 of the Taoiseach's script. It reads: "Our five year integrated plan for trade, tourism and investment will generate 300,000 jobs and boost exports by one third." How is that being straight with the people? Where are the statistics to back up that?

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