Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail)

This budget contains increases across all the relevant headings at a time when growth is below what has been the trend of recent times. The Minister successfully managed to do that. He has got the balance right in terms of watching current expenditure while also ensuring, not through taxation but through moderate borrowing, that there will be continued progress in the capital programme. This will help to maintain momentum and employment and, above all, maintain and increase our attractiveness to foreign direct investment and ensure the growth of the regions and economic growth generally.

Having examined the package of reforms, I greatly welcome the measures for the most vulnerable and least well off in our society. They amount to €980 million. That is a difficult figure for a group of parties whose best innovation when the chips were down was VAT on shoes. It may have been a long time ago——