Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

——-and what that Government had to do to stimulate the economy. It did a wonderful job. It was because of the decisions taken by the late Charles Haughey and his Government of that time that we experienced the era of the Celtic tiger. The Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, was centre stage in assisting Taoisigh of the day at that time.

When the former Minister for Finance, Charles McCreevy, proposed reducing capital gains tax from 40% to 20% he was laughed at by our colleagues in Fine Gael, yet he trebled the income the following year. That shows who had the vision to implement the right policies at the time.

To compare the mid-1980s to the advantages we enjoy today, in the mid-1980s we had interest rates of 17% and 18%. I recall the day after New Year's Day 1980 when the rate was 19.5%, and if one had to get a bridging loan the rate was 3%.