Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

——there will be average growth rates of 2% in 2009. That is the performance and it is still declining. Using the benchmark of those years one can look at every economic indicator, such as export performance, total tax take as a percentage of gross national product and national debt. The Taoiseach, Deputy Cowen, promised before the previous election to eliminate the national debt. With the latest move in respect of the national asset management agency and the bailing out of the banks, the doubling of the national debt in sight. This is the legacy of Fianna Fáil and what we must face in 2009.