Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I am for solutions, whereas those opposite have offered none. Let us engage in a debate on that matter. Those on the Opposition benches should show us the colour of their money. How do they propose to bring about a renewal and a reform of our country? We are all seeking a society where people will be employed, where their homes will be protected and where small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs will be rewarded so that they might renew their operations and take on additional staff.

The measures the Government is implementing will lead to a period of recovery. I was heartened by the Taoiseach's remarks this morning to the effect that any increase in our rate of corporation tax would be a breach of trust, particularly in the context of foreign direct investment from America. He is right: there must be no capitulation regarding our corporation tax rate. Within its first 100 days, the Government will have introduced a jobs initiative. The latter is due to be unveiled on Tuesday next. The Government has been in office for ten weeks. It has already addressed the banking system, which was about to collapse under the previous regime, restored the minimum wage and will, as already stated, introduce a jobs initiative next Tuesday which will assist in the creation of employment and in placing a value on work.

This Administration has also begun a process of reform across the entire structure of government. The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, has courageously spoken about public sector reform. I am a public servant and I will defend the public sector. However, the Croke Park agreement must be implemented and it must be honoured by everyone in the public service because we must deliver value for money to the people. I am confident that the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Howlin, the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, and the remainder of the Cabinet will engage with their European counterparts. I am also confident that there will be reduction in the interest rate being charged by EU and the IMF, that our rate of corporation tax will be protected, and as the Taoiseach stated yesterday, that our economic sovereignty will be returned to us by 2016.

It is important that the Government should be honest with the people and that it should tell the electorate the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. While unpalatable, the deal with the EU and the IMF is necessary. It will lead to the creation of a better Ireland where all citizens - be they involved in central or local government, those who work in the banks, developers or ordinary people - will be more prudent in the context of what they do. There must be accountability in Irish life and this Government has brought it back. There must be transparency and this Government is doing that. There must be regulation and this Government is doing that. I am looking forward to having a debate in two and a half years, at the midway point for this Government, when we will see a positive reflection of the Government's actions on behalf of the people. If Members want to go back to the general election, we must remember that the people sought change. They asked for a different type of government and a different style of governance. They want to have the unemployed back at work.

Job creation will be at the core of this Government's actions. We have already seen the creation of two new pillar banks as an important plank of Government policy. It is equally important that we protect the homeowner and the ordinary citizen. The chosen few can no longer be allowed to dictate policy in this country. The common good of our citizens must be at the heart of government.

I am happy that the political reform announced by the Government and repeated yesterday by the Minister, Deputy Hogan, will demonstrate the leadership that is wanted by the people. It is not just about the abolition of the Seanad or about the reduction in the number of Ministers or TDs, but about political reform and change in the structure of government. We have seen it already and I hope it continues.

Like many Members, I was at the 1916 commemoration mass in Arbour Hill yesterday. I was struck by a paragraph in Archbishop Martin's very fine homily:

The dream of 1916 was a Republic. A Republic is one where power is vested in the people. But a real republic is one, not just in which power is vested in the people, but one in which responsibility is assumed by the people. Just as in 1916, our modern day Republic requires leaders of vision, but it requires above all the tears and fears, the dreams and commitments of our citizens and families and communities who decide that they do not wish to belong to the disinterested or the distracted or the self centred.

I am confident that following Tuesday's jobs budget, there will be a period of prosperity for our people. The vision, the leadership and the responsibility of the Government are about ending emigration, creating jobs, protecting homeowners, rewarding entrepreneurs, and protecting the most vulnerable in society. In doing that, it must be responsible. The Members opposite have sometimes not been responsible. They want to abandon everything and spend, spend and spend. Where will that money come from? If one spends €100 per week on the household budget but one does not have that, then what does one do?

Let us recognise that we are not in an easy place. A recovery will not be led by developers or bankers, but by all of us as citizens. It will be led by the Government through rewarding entrepreneurship, through our export-led recovery, through tourism and through agriculture.

Many people today are living on the edge. They are barely surviving. They do not want to be kept in the dark like they were under the previous Government. If we are bringing in a reduction in spending and new taxes, let us be honest, fair and upright with the people. I challenge the Members opposite to show me a better way than what we have at the moment. Let them show me the colour of their money.

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