The reality is the economic miracle is well and truly over. Everywhere one looks prices and taxes are increasing. They are feeding off each other and pushing inflation in the direction of 6%. Any downward figure this month is only a slight and inconsistent aberration. The tax increases are so blatant that to describe them as stealth taxes any more is inaccurate and redundant. Motor tax is up 12%, hospital charges are up 26%, the drugs refund scheme threshold is up 31%, VHI premiums are up 18%, the cost of cigarettes and alcohol is up 15%, banking card charges are up 29%, ESB charges are up 13%, college fees are up 9%, parking fees are up 26%, bus fares are up 9%, and the television licence fee is up 40%. What an indictment of a Government which inherited an economy in the full flush of economic success and which has been left in such a decrepit condition.