Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

I should balance my comments, which I hope I will. Fine Gael did not have the intellectual prowess to formulate its economic framework. It did not have Deputy Lee then. There is "post-Lee" and "pre-Lee". Fine Gael has Deputy Lee now and I wish him well in his political career, however long or short it will be. Fine Gael and the Labour Party brought out the document Protecting the Progress: An Agreed Agenda on Tax and Jobs. The Labour Party had its separate manifesto as well as the shared one. On page 4 the joint manifesto states: "The tax resources that the Department of Finance expects from economic growth will be sufficient to finance the improvements we need to make to public services and infrastructure." Will somebody from that side of the House point out where in that sentence there is an indication that the Opposition had the faintest idea of what was about to occur? I make those points because there is a feeling abroad, and sometimes in the media, that Fianna Fáil went into that election and did not protect the future.