Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

We undoubtedly have a duty in terms of what we have to say in Opposition. However, to be told that we need to take lessons on credibility from another political party, given that Fine Gael implemented the Tallaght strategy and took a courageous stand on the benchmarking agreement, is more than I can take. It is incumbent on me, therefore, to make clear that Fine Gael will not take lectures from the Progressive Democrats or anybody else about the credibility of our policy stances.

I wish Senator Boyle was in the House. He talked about our party having a dereliction of duty in terms of what we are saying about the economy. The second part of the motion lays out different policies and measures that Fine Gael want implemented. If it is the Opposition's duty to highlight what is wrong and should be done differently, then our motion is consistent in that. It is consistent in pointing out the significant deterioration in the public finances and the private economic status of many people. It is consistent in stating what Fine Gael would do differently to the Government.

Senator O'Malley spoke of the Taoiseach outlining what he wants to do differently. Perhaps there is a hidden disquiet on that side of the House in that all we have seen so far from the new Administration is continuity. There is no indication as to how running the economy will be approached differently.

Many Members referred to this morning's publication of the latest ESRI review of the economy, a fortunate time for the Government. The report laid out a roadmap for how economic growth of 3.75% can be achieved. What is noticeable is that for each of the factors that must be delivered, the Government over the past five years has not done so. The report pointed to the need for fiscal policy to be tightened up when times are good. Over the past several years, current spending has greatly increased at a time when the economy was booming. When economic growth slowed down, the ability to manoeuvre was gone. How is our economy, like the US economy, not technically in recession but front-line jobs are being cut? The reason is that current spending increased from €25 billion to €39 billion when the economy and the private sector was doing well while capital spending did not increase in the same way.

The report called for an efficient delivery of the national development plan. In the last review of Transport 21, a key element of the plan, not only did the Minister for Transport refuse to take responsibility on what he had not delivered, he refused to set targets for those plans behind deadline.

The economy will move from one based predominantly on the manufacturing sector to the services sector. The ESRI report outlined several factors requiring delivery to ensure this transition occurs. Again, these recommendations are not being implemented. The report called for the development of a national broadband infrastructure to facilitate the development of the services economy. Broadband roll-out, as every Member will acknowledge, is not happening. The report pointed out the need for advancing the education sector to stimulate a growing services economy. However, class size is a serious issue and we do not have a world-class university. While many of our universities are trying to up their game for a knowledge-based economy, we still do not have a university in the international top ten.

While I was mildly dissatisfied with the timing of the publication of the ESRI report, I found it helpful in terms of forming a critique of Government policy. The main factors that can help develop and grow the economy have been ignored consistently by the Government. If Senator Boyle were present, he would speak of a dereliction of duty when the Opposition is pointing out facts.

The ESRI report did not refer to China and India when dealing with the international economic context. The template for our economic success is being copied by every other major country. China has revised its growth forecast from 11% to 8% while India has reduced it from 10% to 8.5%. The engine these economies have identified to deliver such growth is the service industry, the very area we want to develop. The dereliction of duty is not recognising that the global economic environment has changed and identifying a solution to this. I am disappointed not to hear this message from the new Taoiseach and his new Administration.

The Administration has spoken for so long on the need for reform of the public service and how the economy operates. The value of the dollar against the euro is falling and our economy is one of the most open in the world, yet inflation is increasing. This is a sign of how the key fundamentals in the economy are being managed. The greatest threat our economy will face in the coming years will be inflation. It will affect our national wage agreements and international competitiveness. The Government, with the opportunity of a new leader, should control those inflationary factors that it can and provide exemplary leadership to the other sectors in society that contribute to inflation.

Our party will not accept this claim of a dereliction of duty. The dereliction of duty is on the Government's part in that it does not recognise the new economic situation or propose new measures to tackle it.