Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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7. To ask the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform the extent to which he remains satisfied that expenditure and reform targets and commitments continue to be achieved; the degree to which he expects the benefits accruing therefrom to be reflected in new and enhanced economic opportunities, including employment prospects arising from his Department’s programme in the past three and a half years; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5744/15]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I have a somewhat similar question with a different aspect. I inquire as to the extent to which the various reform and expenditure targets and commitments continue to be achieved, and the degree to which the Minister expects these to reflect economic policy in the future with particular reference to benefits to the people.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The banking crisis in 2008 and subsequent recession had a profound impact on the public finances, as everybody in this House knows. The scale of the challenge facing both the economy and the public finances was considerable with gross voted expenditure being reduced from its peak of €63.1 billion in 2009 to €54 billion in 2014, a reduction of 14.4%.

The Government's priority has been to protect the vulnerable in society and support economic growth to the greatest extent possible during that process. Therefore, in implementing expenditure reductions, all Departments and agencies were required to seek savings, pursue efficiencies and manage within constrained budgets, often while meeting increased demand from the general public for services.

With the recovery in the economy and the improvement in the fiscal outlook, in deciding on expenditure allocations in the comprehensive review of expenditure, the Government has been able to provide for a year-on-year increase in expenditure. This expenditure increase is targeted at key areas such as health, social welfare provision and most of all social housing.

Our programme of public service reform has also made a vital contribution to ensuring that public services are delivered in a more efficient and effective manner. The efficiency and productivity measures the Government has introduced have played a fundamental role in mitigating the impact of the necessary expenditure reductions. We have made very strong progress on public sector reform to reduce costs and improve services, and this will remain a key element of our recovery strategy.

Returning stability to the public finances is a necessary prerequisite to creating an environment that encourages economic growth. The Deputy will be aware that economic growth in Ireland is now the highest in Europe and unemployment at the end of January was at 10.5%, down from its peak of over 15% in 2011. As a sign of confidence in the Irish market, employment at IDA Ireland-supported firms reached a new record of 175,000 in 2014.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

With the improved economic and fiscal position, the Government is fully committed to correcting the fiscal deficit and to using our recovery wisely through retaining and augmenting the benefits from public service reform. As the fiscal situation continues to improve, we will look to build on the progress already made in returning the unemployed to work and ensuring that economic growth is supported.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for his very comprehensive reply. I acknowledge the tremendous strides made in the past almost four years. Does he remain satisfied that the economy under his guidance and that of his colleagues will continue on its current trajectory with further benefit both in the public and private sectors?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy for his remarks. We need to ensure that it does and the Government is determined to do so. Stability will be required. Instability exists outside our own environment and might have an impact upon us. We do not know what will happen, for example, in eastern Europe, particularly in Ukraine, and such factors have a destabilising effect.

We can control what we can do here and it is important that we maintain the successful policies of the past four years. The Central Bank has indicated that growth reached 5% last year. We expect growth of 4% this year and sustainable growth at that level for the following years. Unemployment is now at 10.5% and will be in single digits this year, please God. In 2011, we did not envisage that being achieved so quickly. Even the projections of the cost of debt servicing in 2011 which we had expected by now to be of the order of €11 billion annually is actually €7 billion because we have had four renegotiations of our debt. We have rolled up our sleeves and done the job of renegotiating all the debt issues. We have focused on growth and job creation. We obviously need to keep a firm hand on the tiller and the Government will certainly continue to do that.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Does the Minister foresee any particular issues that might present a threat to the continued progress of this economy?

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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I foresee two sets of issues. I have already mentioned one, the external environment. There are obviously uncertainties over eastern Europe, particularly Ukraine. There are uncertainties over the position of Greece and the future inclusion of the United Kingdom within the European Union. Those are matters over which we have very little control, but they may impact on us and we need to keep a very close eye on them.

There are also internal issues we need to address. We obviously need to maintain our discipline in public expenditure so that we can grow according to our capacity in a sustainable way and maintain confidence, which we have discovered in the past four years is one of the most important issues. It sounds intangible but for investors in Ireland confidence that we can do the job and will deliver according to our word is really important. The most important component of maintaining that is stability in government so that people know that the policy platform will be robust into the future.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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As there is a minute left, I call Deputies McDonald and Lawlor. I ask them to be brief.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I could not let this go by, as the Minister congratulated himself on his achievements, without asking him to react to the following. On his watch, a third of our children now live in poverty and we have the highest level of low pay in the OECD, second only to the United States of America. On his watch, families, particularly those headed by single parents, eke out an existence and live in poverty. On his watch, the Government continues to take medical cards from children with very severe disabilities and life-threatening conditions, including cancer.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Deputy McDonald is being negative again.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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He portrays this as a level of progress in the economy and rattles off his statistical data.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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Sorry, Deputy-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Added to that are the Government's additional charges, not least the water charges for which protesters are now being lifted, left, right and centre.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I asked the Deputy to be brief.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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To introduce a level of balance into the record of the Dáil, it is only fair to record those matters as our Government colleagues have their love in.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I call Deputy Lawlor for a brief question.

Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I will be more positive than the last speaker-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I am sure he will.

Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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-----who was extremely negative up in the North of Ireland, if she remembers.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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A question, please.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Some 20,000 public servants to be fired.

Anthony Lawlor (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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With regard to linking the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform with job creation and employment projects, will the Minister look at projects with high value-to-money ratios and prioritise them? I spoke to him previously about a certain project.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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In response to Deputy Lawlor, he never misses the main chance. I understand exactly the project in which he is interested and I certainly will have regard to that.

I will deal briefly with Deputy McDonald's remarks. When the facts of the matter do not suit the case and do not suit the political argument-----

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Those are the facts.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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-----she uses generalisms. Medical cards are not being taken. There are more medical cards now than we ever had in our history. That is an undeniable fact. When we have the most strained pressures on our resources, we are providing more medical cards. We will provide free GP care to those aged under six and over 70.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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I could give the Minister examples.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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In terms of poverty, I do not know if the Deputy had a chance to look at the presentation given to the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Education and Social Protection two weeks ago. Almost uniquely, we have gone through the most difficult economic environment in our history while reducing inequality.

No other country - not Greece, Portugal or Spain - reduced inequality. That is because we sustained base social welfare payments, which have now increased as a proportion of total expenditure. I know these issues do not suit Deputy McDonald.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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It does not suit me.

Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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The notion that we have the lowest pay in the OECD is not true; we do not have the lowest pay. One can see what Greece is paying. It wants to increase its monthly minimum wage to something of the order of €750. Therefore, the progress we have made is remarkable. We have put people back to work and have stabilised our economic fortunes. Bluntly, had we followed the path mapped out by Deputy McDonald and her party leader, we would be in a crisis right now with mass unemployment and social unrest. Of course, there are those on the Opposition benches who would like us to be in that position.

Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)
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Far from it.