Martin Mansergh (Fianna Fail)

As somebody who has been closely involved in an advisory capacity in policy over the past 20 years, apart from the success of the peace process, I am immensely proud of the economic transformation that has been achieved in those years. I do not claim this success has been achieved by one party. It has been achieved by partnership and different coalitions of partners. The 1987-1989 Fine Gael Tallaght strategy arrangements contributed to it as well.

We are far ahead of where any of us thought we would be. We have doubled employment, moved from an acute debt problem to a situation where we have one of the lowest debts in the eurozone and from a situation of heavy taxes to a low tax regime. Although none of us believed it would be possible, we are now a relatively lightly taxed country. The main difference from where we were in the 1940s and 1950s is that we now have proper social services and proper infrastructure. Yesterday, I was delayed on my route to Dublin and had to take the old roads through Kildare and Newbridge because of the tragic accident on the N7. Those old roads are a reminder of the way things were. Today, we are able to finance, almost wholly out of our own resources, infrastructure needs and much of the aid provided to our farmers.

I congratulate the Minister on the Bill and on his management of the economy. As long as he is in charge, economic confidence is safe andsecure.