Paul Coghlan (Fine Gael)

I did not write this speech and certainly did not type it. That comment should be read as a moment of light relief. As a result of economic mismanagement, Ireland had become an economic basket case, "the poorest of the rich", as The Economist famously put it. We have since become the envy of Europe thanks to the hard work of the Irish people and the sacrifices they made. One of these sacrifices was the astonishing restraint shown by employees and employers who swallowed hard and signed up to agreement after agreement, each of which secured industrial peace and eventually prosperity.

I and my party are, however, firmly of the belief that it is time for a new era in partnership as the need for reform has become extremely important. This is the reason the Fine Gael Party and its allies in the Labour Party recently published a joint policy on this issue, from which I draw many of my comments.

The forthcoming round of negotiations on a successor to Sustaining Progress will test the agility and strategic capacity of the social partners and the process itself. Significant outstanding challenges remain to be addressed and significant fragilities in the economy cannot be ignored. Equally, important failings in the partnership model must be tackled. A reformed partnership must include a strong voice for consumers and become more democratically accountable, transparent and focused if the process is to continue to thrive, as it must.

The Economic Review and Outlook published by the Department of Finance in August 2005 indicates that the economy is more fragile than it has been for many years. Beneath the healthy projection of economic growth in 2005 lie worrying indications of vulnerability. Exports have declined sharply, industrial productivity is faltering, a stream of job losses has been announced in traditional manufacturing and the economy relies heavily on the construction industry and consumerism to maintain growth. This is in sharp contrast to the strong performance over the past decade in export led growth, which was a key basis for Ireland's economic success. Additionally, employment in companies supported by industrial development agencies has fallen consistently for four years in a row. Even in a modern economy where there is strong growth in the professions we cannot afford to ignore internationally traded goods and services.

The economy also faces significant uncertainties. Record oil prices pose problems both for the buoyancy of our export markets and for domestic inflation. Nor has there been any rigorous official analysis of the possible inflationary implications of the maturation of SSIAs in 2006 and particularly in 2007. In a monetary union, with a non-accommodating interest rate policy, domestically induced inflationary pressures will ultimately result in lower employment and income growth.

While there has been a welcome return to growth following the slowdown in the early part of this decade, important competitiveness issues have not been addressed. Future competitiveness must be built on a combination of skills, innovation and infrastructure. There has been some progress in these areas but the Government has not addressed these competitiveness challenges in a convincing fashion.

Similarly, be it the alarming deficit in broadband roll-out, delays in transport projects, continued under-investment in primary education, or sheer dithering on matters such as Dublin Airport, the Government has simply failed to address in any timely or forward-looking manner our medium-term competitiveness challenges. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, to the House and when he responds to this debate I would like him to enlighten us on the position regarding the Dublin Airport Authority, especially in regard to the inclusion therein of the Great Southern Hotel Group, which is a pet subject of mine. We are well aware that the board of the DAA has served notice on the Government because it does not want to be found guilty of reckless trading. While I would not like to see hotels in Kerry being sold, whether in Killarney or Parknasilla, the Government will have to address the more serious loss-making components in the group. It cannot continue to postpone decisions. There are also more serious issues at Dublin Airport regarding terminals and runways. I ask the Minister of State to outline any information on these matters.

Greater prosperity has not led to improvements in the quality of our lives in the manner that was thought possible. This poses a major challenge for social partnership. While the social partners can agree improvements in wages and Government can give commitments on personal taxation, quality of life also depends on sustained and sustainable improvements in the basket of goods and services provided by Government. This means real advances in areas such as child care, social and affordable housing and transport. Where Government fails to deliver such services, wage demands will accelerate as families seek to compensate in income terms for the expense and pressures resulting from Government failures.

Child care is a particularly important example. While the economy has greatly benefited from enhanced female labour force participation, society has not engaged with the child care issues which this has thrown up. Parents face major problems in accessing affordable child care and in managing the conflicting obligations of family and work. Government failure in this area has left many families to seek solutions which are far from their preferred outcome, and there has been a complete failure to develop an integrated policy which puts children first. An end to the lip-service on child care must result in the expansion of paid parental leave, improved pre-school education and fiscal support for families with children. However, more than this is needed.

While Ireland's economic success in the last decade is beyond dispute, we cannot say the same about the way in which resources for the delivery of public services have been managed. The constantly unfolding litany of waste after eight years of this Government has undermined the capacity of the State to address central quality of life issues. There is a substantial price to be paid both in terms of short-term wage pressures and medium to long-term competitiveness. Waste and inefficiency also have a serious social impact, since they lessen the impact of social programmes. I need not mention the multifarious waste of taxpayers money of which this Government is guilty, including electronic voting, the Dublin Port tunnel, Punchestown, the overspend on the Luas, the NDP national roads programme, PPARS; and idle new health facilities.

We need to carve out an ambitious agenda for public service reform. The social partners will play a huge role in its implementation. This process will affect the livelihoods and working conditions of the members of trade unions. It will also shape the capacity to deliver key objectives in economic and social policy. Social partnership negotiation must be based on a challenging agenda of public service reform. That agenda must include setting meaningful delivery targets for public agencies, creating genuine accountability in units delivering public services, increasing the influence of the users of public services and facilitating diversity in delivery. We owe it to the people to get social partnership right. Although I doubt very many people in Dublin Castle will be listening closely to this debate today, I hope they share our ideas.