Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

Economics and politics were very much out of kilter 20 years ago but have become much more closely aligned. I pay tribute to the economics profession and the economic institutions which have made a significant and important contribution to the prosperity we enjoy today.

I welcome this debate on the OECD report on the economy, which is always valuable reading. I called for this debate on the Order of Business last week and I am glad the response has been so quick. The OECD has always been respected for the quality of its analysis. As the Minister of State said, it is a body comprising about 26 developed countries. The only parallel of which I am aware – I am not sure the European Union reports in this detail on individual countries but its annual economic reports are valuable – is the International Monetary Fund.

I note the Minister of State said the OECD met officials from a number of Departments and various organisations. He will forgive me if I observe that, not for the first time, the tone of this report is rather more that of, say, the Department of Finance and the Central Bank than, say, the Department of Health and Children, for example. In fact, one can often read into OECD reports the ideal world as the Department of Finance and the Central Bank envisage it but, as the Minister of State said, Ministers hope – I think he was referring to Ministers for Finance – that its input will inform mature public debate on these issues. That is one of the values and purposes of such reports. The Minister of State went on to say that he shared the same vision for the economy – surprise, surprise – and most of the views on how to make this vision a reality. However, political pragmatism comes into the equation in that the Government must take the decisions. Needless to say, some of the prescriptions could, either singly or together, bring down a few Governments.

One of the values of the OECD is that it brings a comparative perspective to bear and, therefore, provides a basis for a more objective debate on the economy. I wish to highlight a few parts of the report that I regard as significant. It notes the slowdown and elements of overheating, particularly in the past two years and states: