Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I ask the Leader not to interrupt. It was an accounting exercise and there is no economic thinking underpinning this budget. There is a total emphasis on taxation and no emphasis on value for money, expenditure cuts, cuts in waste or savings made. That is where the Minister has copped out.

Senator Mary White essentially invited us to congratulate the Government on the cutbacks. We have had a series of giveaway budgets on which Fianna Fáil Governments have been elected over the past 12 years. We are now being asked to congratulate the Government on taking all that back. Apart from the taxation and pain of this budget, let us look at the economic performance. Going back to the last Fine Gael-Labour Government, where there were average growth rates of 8%——