Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I am disappointed with the Minister's speech. There was a build-up to this debate, which had been called for by Senators for quite some time. I thought we would get clarity on some key issues of concern in the economy. How do we restore balance to the public finances? What is the Minister's position on pay in the public service and the national wage agreement? What is his plan in respect of the banks? What is his plan in respect of waste? There is no plan for balancing the public finances, outlining how expenditure will be dealt with and forecasting the budget balances for the end of the following year. The Minister dodges these issues.

We had debates on the economy some months ago. The reaction has always been that we should wait for something else, such as the November figures that will tell us more about the public finances. In the other House, the Minister indicated that we should wait for the December figures and that perhaps we would have a clearer idea then. This procrastination and the establishment of a new committee, "an bord snip nua", is outsourcing decision making. The Minister is avoiding making decisions. There is also an avoidance of clarity on the Government's plan for these critical issues.

The Minister's presentation indicated that our stimulus package is twice the EU average. We have a European-wide stimulus package to kick-start the European economy and the respective economies of member states into activity and out of recession. What the Minister is saying is that the huge gap that has emerged in the public finances, with revenue running some €7.4 billion behind target, is our contribution to a stimulus package. Running a deficit is portrayed as a virtue, not a problem that must be resolved. The Minister admits we are back to the bad old days of the former Taoiseach, Charlie Haughey, when we borrowed for day-to-day spending.