Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

The Government built the boom on a false premise with no foundation and this has cost the people dearly. This debate is about the Government, its performance, its economic competence and its lack of credibility in dealing with the economy. Let us not cod ourselves, or use language that will camouflage or hide the reality.

This Government is the master of overspending, overruns and lack of timeline planning and it is discredited. It ran a €2 billion surplus and there is now an €8 billion deficit. Where is it all gone? The Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, will attend the House in the autumn and tell us he will save €50 million. This is a fairy tale like Alice in Wonderland. The champagne days are over. Senator Ross spoke of the former Minister for Finance, Mr. Charlie McCreevey. This situation is the product of a Government without joined-up thinking. This is a Government, as Senator Ross said, that lacks foresight and planning. It is arrogant and has treated the people with contempt.

We welcome action, reform of waste and a recognition that the Government needed to address the direction in which it was headed. We were on a train-wreck and, in many ways, we still are. Despite the comments of others, Oppositions do not talk countries into recessions, whereas lack of Government leadership and action does.

The fundamentals of this economy are headed in the wrong direction. Unemployment is up, growth has collapsed, the tax intake is down and housing sales have plummeted. Let there be no turning with the national development plan. Let us make Ireland more competitive, as Senator Coffey said, in the area of broadband. We have seen no meaningful action in this area. We must examine the way we train and upskill people.

I listened to Senator MacSharry's spirited defence and I admire him for coming to the house with some bottle to defend his team, as he must. However, I remind the Senator and the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, of the slogan, "Health cuts hurt the old, the sick and the handicapped". The Government has said nothing of what the fine print contains or how people will be affected.

Dr. Alan Barrett, an independent commentator and author of the recent ESRI report, has stated: "Everyone knows the downturn in the public finances is because the Government blew the finances from the boom which everyone knew would be temporary". Some 19,000 extra people signed on the unemployment register between May and June, which represents 635 people losing their job every day. At least an extra 54,000 people have lost their job and the live register has risen by one third. It amounts to a rise of 6% in unemployment since the Government was returned to power.

Will the Minister of State outline where the cuts will be made? Although the Minister of State can use fancy lingo, they are cuts. Who will be responsible for a failure to meet the 3% reduction in the public payroll? Who will make the 3% payroll cut in city, county and town councils, State agencies and all local authorities? Who will direct the directors of services and county and city managers? Will the Minister of State give us a cast iron guarantee today that front line services in the Departments of Health and Children and Education and Science will not be affected? We must hear it.

We are talking about Irish men, women and children being affected by the Government's inability to manage the economy.