Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity for us, as representatives of the Irish people, to discuss the state of the economy. I presume we are having this debate because we have been in recession for the last four years.

The previous Governments, between 1997 and 2011, were reckless. A dictionary definition of "reckless" we looked at suggests wild carelessness and disregard for consequences. This describes perfectly the behaviour and standards of those Governments, mainly dominated by Fianna Fáil aided by the now defunct Progressive Democrats and the Green Party.

There were others. Our banks lacked any sense of morality or even decency in their quest for profits where bonuses were paid on turnover and deals done. This led to a kind of a rush for a pot of gold buried under a Celtic rainbow that was as unsustainable and as false as the myth, helped along by our regulators who did not have the integrity or guts to call stop. We now see the results, with over 250,000 jobs lost between 2007 and 2009. The unemployment rate in 2008 was 7.4%. In 2012, it is 14.4% which, regrettably, does not include the thousands of our young people who have sought to seek work abroad.

At the end of 2011 the national debt stood at over €119 billion or almost €26,000 for every man, woman and child in the State. These figures are broken down as approximately €60 billion in borrowing to cover the costs of mismanaging the State so abysmally and another €60 billion to cover the deficit in the accounts of our financial institutions, of which €30 billion has been to cover the losses of the former Anglo Irish Bank or €6,500 of debt for every man, woman and child in this country.

The Government has found itself in the most difficult position ever faced in economic terms in this country and bound by the agreements that the previous Government entered into before running to the hills. I mention the bailout agreement and the Croke Park agreement, both of which are necessary and have restricted the hands of the Government in the options that it can take to bring the country back to being a sound economy.

At a time of record growth, the then Government should have had restrictive policies. They should have cooled the jets a little, but did not have the ability or the wherewithal to implement the most basic economic principles. At a time of recession, the Government should now have the ability to invest but, as a result of the previous Administration's waste, it simply does not have access to the funding necessary to carry out those programmes.

I am very disillusioned by the disjointed opinions expressed by those occupying the Independent seats in the House. They continue to oppose many new revenue generating schemes going as far as advocating not paying legitimate taxes that were voted for in this House. One must wonder whether they accept the basic principles of the democracy in which we exist and of the representation that they are honoured to hold to sit here in this House. They also oppose every cut on the expenditure side. They oppose every possible move to rectify the situation. It is hard to understand. We have not heard one credible contribution as to how we can go about providing a secure Ireland in future for citizens.

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