Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The recovery is under way precisely because the Government has taken difficult decisions. No one on this side of the House takes any pleasure in what has happened to our country or in the decisions we have had to take since coming into office to begin the process of rebuilding and recovery.

I stated in my budget speech last week that the people have endured a fiscal correction without precedent in any modern western economy. The people have done so with an amount of dignity and courage. Most independent commentators agree that the burden has been shared progressively throughout the social spectrum. Not every decision made by Government has been perfect; it never could be and never will be.

The State has responded to the crisis. In a recession, more is asked of the State and its public services, not less. We have tried to ensure the least well-off are protected as much as possible. I use the term "protected", but no one has been immune. The scale of the crisis has ensured that much. Anyway, the people know we need to get out of this programme. They realise that failure to do so will not only delay restoring our economic sovereignty but will see further financial correction imposed upon us from outside the State, with little or no freedom and without the possibility of any Irish Government resisting. We need only look elsewhere in Europe to see that this is an inescapable fact. Moreover, the people realise that when the future of Europe is being discussed, Ireland needs to participate in the discussions without the constraints of being a programme member dependent on others. They know, too, that we are making slow and painful progress and that this crisis has brought down an awful burden on the young people of our country. The people have no intention of allowing the agony to be prolonged. They expect, rightly, some generosity from our European Union neighbour countries because the young population of the State has paid the greatest price for the stability of the European banking sector. While the solidarity received thus far is welcome, it falls short of what we need and deserve.

We know that Ireland bears its share of responsibility for the mess we find ourselves in. Our people are paying a heavy price for these failures. However, the people know that systemic European weaknesses played a part in our banking and property bubbles. The Government expects our European partners to acknowledge as much.

The people know we have other problems to tackle and that the fiscal crisis is only the first of the hurdles we must overcome. Our unemployment problem remains. Today's ESRI report reveals a particular problem involving non-working households which goes beyond the fiscal crisis and requires a measured and considered response. The people know that this fiscal crisis has caused legacy issues that will take us years to address. They know that what has happened in Ireland is both tragic and complex. It is trivialised by the motion before the House.

No change of Government would change the problems we must address as a nation. Are Sinn Féin or Fianna Fail or both together offering such a solution to the people? Even after last week's budget and the difficult decisions we made, we will borrow €1 billion plus per month next year to pay our bills. Sinn Fein's response is denial. Its position is to ignore the problem, to hope it will go away and to tell the EU and IMF, as per the Sinn Féin pre-election submission, to take a hike and that Ireland will mind its own business.

This is a national Government committed to restoring our county's fortune.

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