Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

You suffered a bit of harm when you crossed swords with her.

The recovery has been hard won, and credit should be given to Brian Lenihan for his achievements. Ultimately, the national recovery plan brought the State finances back on track and set out the structure we needed for economic recovery. It was interesting to hear Ajai Chopra of the IMF giving evidence at the banking inquiry that the current Government made no fundamental changes to the troika programme or Brian Lenihan's national recovery plan when it came to office, notwithstanding the commitments and some rewriting of history. It had the benefit of coming into office in 2011, after the expiry of the guarantee and the negotiation of the troika programme, and with the benefit of the national recovery plan being in place. The economic recovery over the past few years has taken place against this backdrop.

As we face the electorate, it is now clear real benefits accrued to the State by the plan put in place, which was largely followed by the current Administration with some minor changes. Lest we over-congratulate ourselves on the work we do here as we face into the election, a bit of common sense needs to come to the fore. Absolute recognition must be given for the way in which the Irish people have accepted the difficult circumstances placed before them and for the way in which they have rolled up their sleeves and tried to get the economy back on track after the enormous collapse in the coffers of the State. They have worked to the greatest extent possible to try to put Ireland back on track. It would be wrong of any political colour, or any Member who is not in a political grouping, to try to take credit for it. Without the support of the Irish people for the very difficult measures which had to be taken to put the economy back on track there would be no recovery. Even at this, we have a considerable way to go.

While a recovery is taking hold largely on the east coast and in the greater Dublin area, many communities outside of these areas are struggling to see any level of an increase in economic activity. They are certainly burdened with some of the ravages thrown out as a result of the crisis. I hope that whatever the colour or creed of the next administration, it will be in a position to put in place the fundamental building blocks of an economic recovery throughout the rest of the country in a fair and equitable way rather than to the benefit of those who are best off and who could see a recovery in their own finances based on the size of their income. We must look to the people in the lower economic groupings, the people on middle to lower incomes, in an effort to support them for the support they have shown to the recovery.

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