Shane Ross (Independent)

I want briefly to add to what has been said about the economy. We have had many reports, and Senator MacSharry is right, but there is a consistency running through those reports and it is not good. We had the Paul Krugman one last week and one from the International Monetary Fund, which the Government has made a rather flimsy effort to rubbish. The message was the same and both of those are independent reports but the ESRI one is even more important because the reality is that the ESRI is not independent. It is Government funded. There was a time when the former Progressive Democrats leader - I do not know if he was leader at the time - Michael McDowell used to say it was the Government's house trained poodle. It must be remembered that it is coming from a position of appointments by the Government and it is under the control of the Government. The credibility of the ESRI, therefore, is something we should not question in any way. It is more powerful because it is coming from that source and its criticisms of the Government, therefore, are more powerful. They are also damning.

I am tired of hearing people in this House and outside it saying that this is a global problem. It is to some extent a global problem but the message coming through all these reports is that it is much worse here.