Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

The Central Statistics Office pointed out that the basic rates are now higher than they were even at the height of the boom. The Government is cognisant of the pressure on people. We did not increase income tax and we did not reduce the basic rates of social welfare. We removed the requirement on 330,000 to pay the universal social charge and we reversed the minimum wage. It was much to the annoyance of some people that it could be done by negotiation with the troika.

The answer to the problem is employment. That is why the Government announced today, in addition to the €17 billion capital programme for the period of the Government's lifetime, €2 billion to cover investment in schools, primary care centres, a number of justice buildings and the major development in the inner city of the Grangegorman DIT facility to tie all those strands together. These matters are the focus of Government which is why the Minister for Finance, Deputy Noonan, is in Frankfurt today speaking to Mr. Draghi in respect of the decision by the European Council to break the link between sovereign debt and banking debt and that the deal that can be got for this country would be at the highest level possible so that confidence can be restored to the indigenous economy and that we can get people back to work. The report from Social Justice Ireland is a good one but it refers to the years 2009 and 2010.

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