Dan Boyle (Green Party)

A total of 25% of expenditure was on social welfare and that is increasing despite the controls we are introducing in the Bill. We are spending more on social welfare next year than we did in the previous year, despite reducing payments. A total of 30% of all Government expenditure goes on public sector wages. The two areas in which we have tried to control public expenditure in the budget account for 55% of public expenditure. If we did not send out that signal then those from whom we borrow money would be less inclined to lend to us. Not only that, but if they were inclined to lend to us at all they would do so at higher rates of interest. If we continued to match the levels of public expenditure in which we engaged we would not have been able to borrow or we would pay exorbitant fees for doing so.

An interesting statistic was released in recent EUROSTAT figures. In the past ten years Irish households spent twice as much as the European average household. That is a sure sign of an economy gone out of control. What we had, we spent, and what we did not have, we borrowed. We are now paying a price for that.