John Dardis (Progressive Democrats)

We have created the jobs within the economy by having a prudent approach to our economic governance and ensuring that taxes were reduced to the extent that the revenue has increased exponentially. I will not repeat the figures the Minister gave — they are on the record — but the significant aspect is that the figure increased so much in the face of limited inflation. We could accept those figures increasing enormously if inflation was increasing to the same extent but inflation, in general, has been kept under control and the figures continue to rise exponentially. That is extremely significant. The burden has decreased and the proportion of people entering the tax net, given the huge increase in employment, has been reduced. That is a spectacular achievement and we should celebrate our achievements more often.

Many groups come into these Houses to try to understand what we have done and the reason we have been so successful in the hope that they can transfer that experience to their own domestic economics and emulate some of our achievements. It has conferred on us far more than economic benefits. It has conferred on us a self-confidence and a realisation of our place in the world.

I agree with Senator Ross on the inward investment by the multinational companies. They were attracted by the level of taxation here but they were also attracted by the fact that we are a stable democracy, and there are not many of them in the world, we are English speaking, we have good contract law and a sophisticated and well-educated labour force. There was much more to it than just simple economics, although that was at the heart of it. That is something we should celebrate.

I had the experience of meeting a senior executive from a computer company while I was on holiday in the west. I asked him why he came to Ireland and not to the Far East or one of the economies where labour costs are so low. He said it is very simple; the productivity here is much higher. That comes back to the debate this afternoon about competitiveness. We have been successful in becoming competitive internationally.

We talk ourselves down in terms of the high wage costs. Are our people not entitled to high wages? The trick is to ensure the companies that have to pay those high wages are given the competitive edge, through taxation and other Government measures, that make it attractive for them to come here and be competitive internationally.

Senator Ross was wrong on one aspect. If he was as dramatically in favour of the multinational inward investment as he said, we would have GDP that was a factor of 3% or 4% above GNP, and we do not. We have achieved quite a lot ourselves. It is not just a question of the inward multinationals coming here. I agree with the Minister on the point he repeated, and it bears repeating, that the objective of any Government should be to provide the extra resources to give people the health and education services they need and that we can be proud of internationally. That is what has been done and must continue to do.

In that context, I wish the Minister, Deputy Cowen, every success in his portfolio and I wish him well in the onerous task of framing a budget within the next month. In his hands that budget will deliver more of the benefits we have achieved and we will continue to experience the growth we have returned to and from which our people will benefit.