Shane Ross (Dublin South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Any kind of lingering difficulties which I had with this motion were removed when I saw the Government's amendment. No Government on the economy has a greater welcome for itself than this Government, in particular given that it is not responsible for a large number of the measures for which it claims credit. The Government knows perfectly well that a lot of what is imposed and a lot of what it is claiming credit for is as a result of diktat from outside this country.

This particular attitude is articulated in a great deal of hubris which is very evident from recent Government statements. I was particularly surprised by the attitude of the Minister for Finance when he took on the issue of the Greek debt and the problems which have been afflicting that unfortunate country recently. It was strange to hear the Minister for Finance ridiculing the Greek finance Minister. This man is in the same position in which the Irish Minister for Finance found himself four and a half years ago in 2010. Not only did he say that he was behaving like a film star, he went on to be gratuitously insulting by saying that he reminded him of the economists of the boom. He said that they were great in theory and pretty bloody awful in practice. He would not say that about the German finance Minister, Mr. Schäuble. He would get a flea in his ear if he did that. It is very unhealthy that those of us who were in that position then are now hiding behind the skirts of Mrs. Merkel and others when we are in a stronger position now. It may be a stronger position, and maybe not, but it is certainly not one for which we as a people, or as a Government at least, can claim credit. This particular austerity which we have imposed has been at the behest of an outside power. Let us be honest about it. To be turning on the Greeks now and saying it will be good for them and ridiculing them is unforgivable. This is something the Government has taken upon itself.

It is also very foolish to be talking about growth in this rather cavalier manner. The growth figures are very doubtful. The Fiscal Advisory Council has already stated that it questions the growth figures for 2014 and it certainly questions the 3.9% figure for 2015, as projected, because of a thing called contract manufacturing, which will, mark my words, come back to haunt us. This is a product of the multinationals operating in this country. The Government must be very careful about multinationals. Everyone welcomes the fantastic contribution they make. Everyone welcomes the announcement from Galway this week, the spin-off and the jobs. However, there is a danger. While we are going gangbusters-like for the United States' multinationals and others coming from abroad, there is a danger. There is no strategy or vision in this motion. We are going headlong for the multinational jobs and we are going to depend on the multinationals as a sector in the economy. We could end up with a similar dependence to the one we had on the construction industry. The Government has to examine and acknowledge an alternative to this strategy. If we depend on those multinationals and they take a sour look at what is going on here or go elsewhere, we are then in a particularly difficult situation.

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