Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I do not know what speech I am reading at this stage. The Minister for Finance indicated he would outline how policies adopted by the Government were beginning to bear fruit. For many of those listening to his remarks, this fruit will be bitter. Deputies need only speak to members of their respective communities to learn about how Government policies are affecting their lives.

Speakers have outlined to the House what they expect to emerge from the deliberations at European level. While we all hoped the recent summit would provide greater certainty, it sent mixed messages and created greater confusion. Uncertainty can have a disastrous effect on the markets and it will not help Ireland to return to the markets in 2014. Deputies listened to positive spin about the recent European Council meeting. As with everything else, it is possible to take something positive from the summit. We were not sent to the bold boys' corner at the back of the room, for example, and it appears some discussions on Ireland took place at the meeting. While I listened carefully to the Tánaiste highlight positive aspects of the summit, it is difficult to glean what these were and certainly most of those who are worrying about how to make their next mortgage repayment will not have derived much comfort from it.

With the Government set to announce a budget in little more than one month, people are worried that it will be heavy on austerity. They are concerned about how it will affect them and their families and wonder if it will instil hope. Given their experience of previous budgets, however, most of them are expecting more of the same. I genuinely hope the Government will do an about-face and recognise that austerity is not working either in Ireland or across Europe.

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