Liam Fitzgerald (Fianna Fail)

I thank Senator Dooley for sharing his time. I welcome the publication of the Book of Estimates. One can see from the actions of the Minister, Deputy McCreevy, that much has been learned from previous decades with regard to peaks and troughs in economic performance, both domestically and internationally.

If the Minister were to respond positively to some of the loudest calls from the Opposition and a tiny minority in the media, the country would quickly revert to the bad old days of the 1980s when, as a result of spend and bust and attempts to spend our way out of temporary difficulties, the country ended up worse off than ever. In fact, in 1987 the country was on the verge of bankruptcy. It required the courage of politicians such as the former Deputy, Ray MacSharry to bring the country caringly, prudently and courageously through it. It involved some extremely harsh decisions.