Cyprian Brady (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and thank the Minister for Finance for the clear and precise contribution he made earlier which presented a good overall picture of where we stand. The budgetary and financial position of this State, in particular that of the past ten years, did not happen by accident. We have progressed to our current position through foresight and courage.

Contrary to what has been said, through the process of partnership and prudent management we are now in probably the best economic position in the history of our State. The question is how to continue or sustain this. It is the job of the Opposition to oppose and I have yet to hear anybody on that side agree we are in good shape, in a good position and have opportunities we did not have before. Perhaps if they did agree, particularly with regard to educational opportunities, they would be in a better position.

People have more and this presents its own challenges and problems. The Government must manage these and ensure it deals with the challenges. I have seen at first hand the progress made in places such as the north inner city. This area has moved from a position where there were generations of unemployment, inadequate housing and possibly the lowest standards of education. It has moved from this because of the initiatives and decisions taken by the Government over the past number of years.

Today in the north inner city complete households are in employment and decrepit flat complexes have been demolished and replaced by self-owned or state-of-the-art housing and community facilities. There is significant improvement in educational facilities and programmes throughout the area, up to and including a third level college in the docklands area. If people had suggested ten years ago we would have a third level college in the docklands, they would have been laughed at.

I see the changes that have been made, in particular those that have come about because of the investment in education. Education is key. Communities and individuals have become confident enough to engage in the process of change and to take responsibility rather than sit back as they did in the past and take whatever was given to them. Over the past week I attended two functions. At one, a conference of the Dublin Docklands Authority, some 150 community activists got together with the State agencies, the Garda, Dublin City Council and the Dublin Docklands Authority, to thrash out all the issues relevant to them such as policing, security, education, housing, etc. This would not have happened ten or 15 years ago because the people would not have had the confidence to get involved in the process.

Last night in Store Street, the Garda Commissioner launched the annual report of the community policing forum, which has been up and running in the north-east inner city for the past seven or eight years. At this event more than 100 local people engaged with gardaí face to face, discussed their problems and heard from them what they were doing about them. This would not have happened without the changes that have taken place in the area as a result of investment and the prudent management of the economy. It all goes back to this, as I see every day of the week through people and organisations in the area.

In his budget speech last December the Minister said the budget was rooted in the belief that Irish people could continue to achieve extraordinary things, provided Government created the right environment for them to do so. He went on to list some priorities, education being the first. It is accepted that the quality of the education of our young people has been at the heart of the economic success of the past 15 years.

The Budget Statement also refers to infrastructure, supporting the family and reaching full equality. This provides an insight into how we see the future and how the progress that has been made can and will be sustained. Even at the basic level of household budgeting, value plays a key role. I was delighted to hear the Minister mention value for money in his comments. We have fully taken on the task of trying to achieve it. If people do not feel they are getting value for money or feel they are being ripped off, any benefits that accrue from having spent this money are lost. This concept can be extended further.

As the Minister stated, great strides have been made to ensure we achieve value for money for every euro spent on behalf of the taxpayer. When one considers that our budget over the past 12 to 15 years has increased from €9 billion to over €40 billion this year, one will conclude that there are bound to be problems with fiscal management. Systems need to be enhanced and brought up to speed with the rapid changes that are taking place.

The Minister of State referred to the multi-annual capital framework. Anybody who deals with groups or organisations on the ground will see the improvements that changes in this regard have made. Organisations which used to have to apply each year for money were not able to plan ahead and did not know where they were going from year to year. They are now in a position to submit a five-year plan to a Department and ask for a commitment on funding that plan for a period of four or five years. This allows clubs and organisations to proceed with their work and it has led to great improvements on the ground.

On the issue of detailed cost benefit analysis, analysing what one is going to spend is a fundamental requirement for those in business and individuals. A commitment has been and is being made to go into great detail in analysing.

On the guidelines on the engagement and management of consultants, every organisation and business hires consultants to advise it. It is a question of value for money in that if people do not feel they are getting value for money, any benefits that accrue from the measures they take or the investments they make are eradicated. We must concentrate on realising the benefits associated with what we are doing. We have made progress and I congratulate the Minister for Finance and the Minister of State on their management of the economy.