Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

We have had a number of attempts to have a debate on the economy in this House. When we discussed the economy the Leader and his colleagues generally referred to the past ten years and the level of growth. The reality is, as with so many other things, that Fianna Fáil has been caught out on this issue. It is now official because the report comes from the ESRI, not from Fine Gael, although it confirms what we said. We do not talk down the economy but if we refuse to debate and analyse it no lessons are learned and no measures will be taken to correct the situation.

The reality is that all the good work of the last Fine Gael-Labour Government, when we left an economy with an average growth rate of 7.8%——