Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Government's promise of an end to boom-and-bust policies rings as hollow as the promise to abolish the prescription charge, the promise to give free GP care to all and the promise not to increase student fees.

People have sacrificed too much for the recovery to be put in jeopardy. This is a Government that took medical cards from the sick, the dying and the disabled until it was shamed into giving them back. This is a Government that broke promise after promise after promise in the hope people would just stop noticing. This is a Government that promised an end to cronyism, but instead it brought it to a new level. This is a Government that delivers income tax cuts for the better-off, but it abandons the homeless and those crying out for mental health supports. This is a Government that deliberately targeted single parents, women, vulnerable elderly persons and young people out of work. This is a Government that promised us new politics. I think we all know what happened to that promise.

Prior to coming into office, Fine Gael and the Labour Party opposed every measure designed to close the budget deficit, but they now claim 100% of the credit for the job that was two thirds done for them. The simple fact is that the Government is now aiming for a deficit that is higher than it would be if it were to do nothing. The opening position for 2015 is forecasted to be a deficit of 2.4%, but the Government is planning on bringing this up to 2.7%. Staying the course has been roundly defeated by political expediency and the imperatives of the next general election.

There is something very disturbing about the way the independent Irish Fiscal Advisory Council has been treated by the Government. Anyone listening to the council's chairman, Professor John McHale, today on "Morning Ireland" would really have sat up and taken notice. It is not that I agree with everything the council has stated, but I have taken what it has stated into account in a genuine way. The Government has ignored time and again the independent advice of the council without giving an adequate explanation for so doing. The council advises on an adjustment of €2 billion, but the Government is going in the other direction to the tune of about €1 billion. The Minister can shake his head, but that is the reality. Instead the Ministers for Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform have launched the lifeboat to try to save as many backbench Labour Party and Fine Gael seats as possible in the next 18 months.

We in Fianna Fáil welcome the recent improvement in the economy. A recovery is taking place. The positive economic data have given people hope the pain they have endured continues to be worthwhile.

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