Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I thank the Minister for coming to the House tonight. His rapid rise puts him at a great risk of altitude sickness but I wish him very well in the next couple of years.

While the Minister speaks much of what the Government has done in the past decade the most productive period in terms of real growth in our economy over the past 15 years was that during which John Bruton was Taoiseach and Deputy Ruairí Quinn was Minister for Finance. We must emphasise that point on this side of the House because the Government is trying to take all the credit for any improvements in the economy during that time. The best part of the growth occurred before Charlie McCreevy or Deputy Bertie Ahern became Minister for Finance or Taoiseach, respectively.

A few problems lie on the horizon but some of these have been of the Taoiseach, Deputy Brian Cowen's making. There has been a €10 billion deterioration in the Exchequer balance over the past two years. That may well have been to buy the election but at the same time it may indicate poor management of the public finances. Reform of the public service will be a very important issue over the next few years because funding will be restricted. It is clear that the Minister's speech was made for his Cabinet colleagues as much as for the Members of the House. If there is not going to be a dramatic increase in the level of funding over the next couple of years we must be more efficient in what we spend now.

The idea of reforming the public sector started as far back as 1994 with the strategic management initiatives. We must progress that a little faster than has been the case to date. I would wish the Minister to comment on this. Although there is much talk about this issue and a report was published recently we do not know what kind of initiatives the Government proposes and what they expect to save in the long-term once the modernisation and reforms of the public sector and the Civil Service have been carried out. What sort of timeframe is expected for this?

The Progressive Democrats and, in its turn, the Green Party have taken up the role of mudguards for Fianna Fáil. They seem to agree that all the dirt should stick to them leaving Fianna Fáil clean. It is important that the major political party in Government takes responsibility for what goes wrong. In the past couple of years, particularly before the general election, the property and construction industries were hyped. Many young people bought houses at what are now seen as exaggerated values and have been left with negative equity. This has a very serious effects on young families. If people feel that the house they live in is worth much less than they paid for it and if their mortgage rises, there is a psychological effect but also a reduction in ability to move to another job or another area. Additional financial burden is created if an individual in that household loses a job.

I look forward to having further discussions in this House. The point is sometimes made that Members on this side of the House confine what they say to criticising the Government. The economy is a broad subject. The Government takes up its Private Members' time to discuss those aspects of the economy that might be felt to be outside politics, such as the service industry and other sections of the economy that are doing very well with minimum interference from Government. This side of the House will therefore take it upon itself to discuss those parts of the economy it considers the Government has failed to address and which have an enormous effect on people's lives.