Results 6,641-6,660 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: I will deal with that later. People are the ultimate bedrock of national competitiveness and the national development plan will provide very substantial allocations so that our labour force has the flexibility, skills and qualifications to enable Ireland to compete in the high value-added sectors. Taking all these together, investments in infrastructure, enterprise, innovation and human...
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: Ireland's economic potential, as the ESRI's recent medium-term review indicated, is considerable. We must now focus and prioritise the resources provided under the national development plan to optimal effect.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: All this gives the lie to the charge constantly repeated in this House by the Fine Gael Party that there is no strategy on our part to ensure a return to growth.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: The national development plan shows that the Government is determined to enhance the productive capacity and productivity of this economy and to restore and improve our international competitiveness. The national development plan provides a robust, multiannual financial investment framework to underpin this endeavour. The Government is determined to prioritise and deliver those investments...
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am not prepared to bring the country back to the days of unsustainable borrowing, less room for manoeuvre, lower growth and a heavy tax burden.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: Unlike then, our economic future is bright.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: In the past 11 years 750,000 new jobs have been added to the economy.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: The economy has doubled in size, while exports have increased by over 100% in volume terms. Public investment has been maintained at record levels while real income levels have increased substantially.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: Tax rates have been reduced virtually across the board while hundreds of thousands of ordinary workers have been removed from the tax net.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: A minimum wage has been introduced to protect the weak in our labour market and social welfare payments are now up to double those in the UK.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: Unemployment has been reduced from 10% to 5% during this period.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: These are all substantial improvements and our ambition is to do more in terms of the welfare of our people, as resources allow.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: Our economic potential is clear and attested to by all economic commentators. The economy can grow at 4% per annum once the cyclical effect of the housing adjustment washes through.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: Our glass is very much more than half full economically. The Taoiseach, in his opening remarks to this debate, set out a vision for positive economic policies to deal with this downturn, measures to reduce the cost of doing business in Ireland, increase competition, help the consumer get greater value for money, improve competitiveness and maintain the focus on education and skills. These...
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: During this debate the Opposition has accused the Government of causing the short-term economic problems that the country faces. Deputy Kenny suggested the problems we face are solely due to Government mismanagement, waste and missed opportunity.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: That is to ignore the serious implications for a small, open economy like Ireland of problems that even the world's largest economies are having difficulties in coming to terms with. Ireland is not immune to international developments. Since the late 1950s it has been clear that Irish prosperity is strongly associated with deep international links. If Fine Gael does not understand and...
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: The first thing we must reflect on is the international position. If we do not do that and draw intelligent conclusions from it, we will not give the people the right leadership. We are determined to give the people the right leadership.
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: This does not come without risks, risks that were enunciated in the last budget, risks that those opposite choose to forget. They have forgotten, in particular, the significant uncertainty and volatility in world financial markets which began in August 2007 and has continued into 2008. The euro has continued to strengthen against the dollar and sterling, our two important export markets....
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: A number of Deputies opposite have suggested that the measures the Government proposed are ill-conceived and rushed. I assure the House that we were careful in developing the measures to protect the vulnerable and the economy as far as possible. We have been preparing the ground for some time. In his budget speech last year, the Taoiseach, then Minister for Finance, announced a...
- National Development Plan: Motion (Resumed) (10 Jul 2008)
Brian Lenihan Jnr: The lessons of the past tell us that we need to guard againstââ