Charlie McCreevy (Kildare North, Fianna Fail)

In each of my years as Minister for Finance, I have achieved an overall Exchequer surplus. Debt has been reduced to 34% of GDP, which is the second lowest ratio in the European Union. In the five years of the previous Administration, the Government increased gross public spending by nearly 100% from a figure of roughly €18 billion in 1997. Gross public spending will be of the order of €38 billion in 2003, while the net figure will be around €30 billion. With that money we increased the number of public sector workers, most of whom were employed in the public health area. We increased spending on education, health and welfare, while implementing pension provisions we were anxious to make by giving the old age pensioner an income of €100 per week. As a result of our economic success, we were able to achieve things in the social arena about which we could only dream in the past.

We were able to provide €5 billion in tax reductions, the details of which I outlined earlier. Those provisions gave us the most attractive direct taxation regime for the lower paid in the European Union and among OECD countries. We reduced the national debt as a percentage of GDP as well as in absolute terms. I have invested a great deal of money in the national pensions reserve fund to provide for future demographic change. Senator Higgins might disagree with our spending decisions as he has a different perspective, but that is where much of the money went. I paid off debts which were hanging around and for which there was no credit, including the debt incurred from the break up of An Post and Telecom Éireann many years ago. I used €800 million to pay off the overhanging liability in that area in one year. I paid off other liabilities which had built up and which will not now be carried over.