Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I would not get carried away with what the Deputy discerns from my words. A total of €6 billion is being taken out of the economy in 2011 and obviously that is not all about growth and productivity. This is the first Government in the history of the State to initiate a serious, comprehensive analysis of how taxpayers' money is spent. That will conclude in September, when the Government and the people will know the true scale of the analysis. We are pursuing the elimination of waste, duplication and triplication. There has been allocations of money and nobody knows where it went; we are having difficulty tracing it. There are huge amounts in some Departments. All of this must be dealt with as it is important in the context of the Government and the Minister for Finance looking at the bigger picture and examining the efficiency of spending at the conclusion of the review in September.

The situation in which the country finds itself is challenging, but not hopeless. As a public representative I meet people throughout the country and they have a yearning to get through this recession. However, they want the truth about the scale of the reality we face so the Government can sort it out, and they are willing to help in that provided their contribution is recognised and is fair. When the Minister for Finance outlines the jobs initiative on Tuesday, the Government intends to stimulate the indigenous economy so it can complement what is happening in the export sector, where productivity is high and exports have been running a surplus for 21 months. The first semblance of external confidence is in that sector.

It is not the way one would wish to be in Government but that is the challenge we have accepted. We will meet it and overcome it by working with our people to come through this with a much leaner, more efficient process of doing business in Ireland. That message must be conveyed throughout the world for the benefit of everybody, both at home and abroad.

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