Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)

Some minor amendments were made to the published draft of the speech so I will circulate a new copy to Members of the House, in the interests of being exact.

On this day 90 years ago, 6 December 1921, the Treaty was signed. The Treaty restored Ireland's sovereignty which for so long had been lost. In the last days of the Treaty negotiations, the British conceded fiscal autonomy to Ireland. This, as Dick Mulcahy said, "Gave Ireland back her purse".

I am afraid the Fianna Fáil-Green Party Government gave the purse away again this time last year as fiscal autonomy was conceded to the IMF and the European authorities. After a decade of disastrous decisions the building bubble burst and a Government which was riven with dissension could no longer find anyone to lend money to it, so it was forced to turn to the IMF and the European authorities to provide funding.

The people of Ireland have paid a very high price for this mismanagement of the economy. Personal wealth has been destroyed, thousands of people are sinking into poverty, emigration has returned and unemployment is far too high. The task of this Government is to regain control over Ireland's fiscal and economic policies, to grow the economy again and to get people back to work. Those that have lost their jobs and young people who cannot get jobs have suffered most. The primary purpose of this budget is to support the creation of jobs in the short term, the medium term and the long term.

On 25 February 2011, the Irish people spoke and delivered a resounding mandate to Fine Gael and Labour. The mandate is to set the economy back on the road to recovery and to get people back to work. The new Government has made a strong start. We have restored political stability and have successfully renegotiated many of the conditions of the EU-IMF programme. We have restored Ireland's reputation abroad, a reputation which was so severely damaged by the last Government. We have restored Ireland's international credibility and all serious international commentators now believe that Ireland's longer term position is sustainable and that with prudent management over the next four years we will get over our difficulties.

As a small country with an open economy, the crisis in the eurozone has a profound effect on our economic prospects. We are committed to playing a full part in resolving this crisis, so that the benefit of the common currency will continue for Ireland.

In spite of uncertainty, a gradual recovery has begun to take hold. Next year, the Department of Finance is forecasting an increase of 1.3% in the volume of GDP with around a 2.5% increase in nominal GDP, which is the primary driver for revenue growth. All forecasters agree that growth will be significantly stronger in 2013 and subsequent years. This growth is driven by the exporting sector, both international and indigenous.

Promoting International Trade

Much of Ireland's growth at present can be attributed to the attractiveness of Ireland for inward investment. The corporate tax rate of 12.5% and our place in Europe are central to this. We made a commitment in the programme for Government to maintain the 12.5% rate and we will do so.

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