Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Six weeks from today the Minister for Finance will deliver his second budget to Dáil Éireann. He delivered budget 2012 only nine months after the Government had inherited a disastrous situation, with the economy in freefall and riddled with numerous systemic problems. Before we entered office, there was no clear path towards recovery and the leadership to deliver such a recovery was lacking. When we recall the situation with which the Government was faced at the time, we are reminded of the scale of the challenge involved. Some 250,000 private sector jobs had been lost in the three years before we took office, our international reputation was in shreds, the property market was in freefall, there had been a massive flight of capital out of the country and there was a steady run on the banks. Our output had also been consistently falling and, above all, the people had been left to bear the brunt of the crisis. Emigration had returned and unemployment had been allowed to reach record highs. There was no clearly defined vision for the country, the situation was bleak and the people were bereft of hope. From the outset, the task of the Government has been to regain control over Ireland's fiscal and economic policies, grow the economy again and get people back to work.

Since taking office the Government has been addressing each of these challenges in a systematic fashion. We have taken real and meaningful steps to stem the tide of the downward trends and put Ireland back on a path to growth and recovery. We have focused many of our efforts on restoring international confidence in Ireland. All of the actions agreed under the ED-IMF programme have been met. As a consequence, international markets have recognised Ireland's commitment to doing what is necessary in order to steer the economy back to recovery. Our long-term bond yields are now under 5% and the NTMA has been making a phased return to the bond markets. We have successfully begun the process of restoring balance and order to the national finances. In 2011 the deficit fell to 9% against a target of 10.6%. This year we will reduce that deficit even further.

We have been restoring banking and financial stability and banking deposits are up 10% from a low in July 2011. We witnessed a modest return to GDP growth of 1.4% last year. We have secured an EU commitment to making Ireland's banking debt more sustainable and breaking the link between bank and sovereign debt. This commitment was reaffirmed at the meeting of the European Council last week. We have introduced a comprehensive restructuring and recapitalisation plan for the banking system, in conjunction with reform and restructuring of bank boards and oversight structures. New legislation has been published to tackle white collar crime in order to restore confidence in the financial system.

Each of these measures has been taken to ensure the conditions are right to allow growth to return to the economy and prudent management to be restored. Without this, we cannot move forward to address the most pressing part of the crisis, namely, getting people back to work. In the light of the scale of the crisis and the number of individuals and families affected by it, the Government has made this a top priority. Our priority in this regard must be to create the conditions for employment growth and we have used every opportunity at our disposal to make this happen. We want to make work pay and reward people for an honest day's work. To this end, we have not increased income tax. In this year's budget we took steps to ensure some 330,000 people would not be obliged to pay the universal social charge. In February we launched the Action Plan for Jobs. Unlike plans published in the past, we have made implementation our priority. We have been resolutely pursuing each and every target and action in the plan on a quarterly basis. We also announced a €2.25 billion infrastructure stimulus plan with the aim of creating 13,000 jobs.

We have undertaken the consolidation, reform and policy development to which I refer, while protecting the most vulnerable. We know that a crisis such as that being experienced leaves those who are already vulnerable most exposed and pushes many more into the trap of poverty. Cognisant of this fact, since taking office we have reversed the cut in the minimum wage, published the national carers strategy and the Children First guidelines, allocated funding to community mental health teams and provided additional mortgage interest relief for first-time buyers who purchased their properties between 2004 and 2008.

With the announcement of the budget for 2013 just six weeks away, we are very aware that a huge amount of work and effort are still required in order to continue to get Ireland working again and the national finances back on a sustainable footing. As a country, Ireland continues to spend far more than it collects in revenue. While the banking crisis has clearly affected some of the forces which impact on the tax take such as confidence, demand and spending, the gap between what we collect and what we spend is an issue with which we simply must deal. It cannot be ignored; it will not go away and cannot be fixed as if by magic. The Government has a plan for dealing with this deficit. We must and will see this plan through and allow the stability and confidence it will engender to act as a platform for future growth in the economy.

Our commitment to reduce the deficit to below 3% of GDP by 2015 remains central. Further current expenditure savings must be found. We must deliver more savings and reforms under the Croke Park agreement. We must ensure the reform of the public service delivers a world-class offering for the people which does not tolerate waste or inefficiency of any kind.

On the international front, we will continue to pursue a successful conclusion to discussions at EU level on an agreement to separate bank debt from sovereign debt. Our work in this regard is ongoing and involves many actors. Results will be delivered in different ways during the coming months. Against this backdrop, we will continue to intensify all of our engagements at EU level. We remain steadfast in our efforts to ensure the euro will be protected. We will prioritise the pursuit of a banking union and engage in robust discussions on an EU fiscal-political union.

During our Presidency of the European Union in 2013, one of our key messages will be to push for more EU growth measures. As a small, open, export-oriented economy, it is in our national interest that Europe should continue to develop the Single Market and promote trade and enterprise among member states and with external economic blocs. In this respect, during our Presidency, the Tánaiste and I will be seeking to advance further trade relations between the European Union and the United States, with other advanced and developing markets. Within the European Union, we need to break down the barriers to trade and introduce new measures to facilitate rapidly growing areas such as the digital market and on-line commerce.

At a domestic level, our focus next year will be on turning the stability we have fought so hard to achieve into jobs. We want to build on the beginnings of recovery in employment that we have seen to date. There has been a 13,000 reduction in the numbers on the live register during the past year and some 17,000 additional jobs have been created in the private sector since we came to office. In recent weeks there have also been a number of significant jobs announcements, a number of which have been made by indigenous Irish companies with a global reach. The numbers to which I refer are small given the scale of the crisis. However, they are moving in the right direction. Conditions in the labour market remain weak and long-term unemployment is a serious concern. Thus, we must continue to push hard to deliver the policies which will facilitate employment growth and job creation.

The new integrated employment and support service, INTREO, announced last week by the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, will provide individualised supports for jobseekers to assist them in getting back to work and increasing their employability. This will ensure those who have lost their jobs will remain connected to the labour market and be ready to avail of opportunities when they arise. I attended the launch of INTREO in Sligo and it is a demonstration of the Croke Park agreement in action. INTREO brings together public servants from FÁS and the HSE and civil servants from the Department of Social Protection to work in the interests of those who are unfortunate enough to be unemployed and to understand these individuals have a contribution to make, that they possess experience and talent, that they are motivated and that they are willing to do things in order to be of help in their local communities and contribute to their local economies. It is hoped the process being introduced in this regard will make a major difference.

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