Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

Today the troika will give its verdict on the first full year of implementing the so-called "bailout". I for one have no doubt it will place a big gold star on the Government's copybook in recognition of its policy of cutbacks and the ongoing assault on the livelihoods of low and middle income earners. I have no doubt the troika will say we are getting there, we are ticking the boxes and we are meeting our targets.

Where exactly are we going? What kind of society will we be left with when we get there? The Tánaiste knows as well as I do that the domestic economy is in a heap, growth forecasts are routinely revised downwards, unemployment is higher than when his Government came into office and thousands of young people emigrate. Now the Government is casting its beady eye on valuable State assets. It even sabre rattles in respect of the increments of low paid public and civil servants.

What is the Tánaiste's assessment of the first full year of the bailout and the austerity as his Government approaches its first anniversary in office? As Tánaiste and leader of the Labour Party, is it his view that we are heading in the right direction?

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