Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy is raising issues that go beyond my brief. He will know that the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputies Noonan and Howlin, have developed a stimulus plan that involves initiatives across a range of infrastructure. It includes, for example, the establishment of Irish Water and its development as a professionally run utility that will become a major asset in the long term. At present, we are losing €500 million from water leaking into the ground from a system that is under-performing. That is a major investment which will also improve our infrastructure. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Deputy Rabbitte, recently announced his plans to achieve a broadband spread across the country. Deputy Tóibín might take up this issue with Deputy Rabbitte.

The intention of the Government is to achieve financial consolidation, which is essential. We inherited public finances where spending was exceeding tax by about 50%. That is not sustainable. The Deputy is advocating expansionary policies with a heavy level of reliance on borrowing when we can only borrow from one source, having been locked out of the lending markets. We must restructure our economy and build new sectors that can sustain economic prosperity in the future.

A major transformation is under way but the Deputy is offering a simplistic analysis of the scale of the challenge and how we can address it.

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