Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

It has certainly committed taxpayers to paying for commitments entered into by the Government for the next 30 years, never mind the next four.

The other point the Minister made this morning was that the budget in December would be much harsher than the public was expecting. It is only common sense to cancel any more bond issues before the end of the year because what the bondholders would be seeking would be disastrous in terms of international opinion. However, the responsibility for any additional funding we may need is now wholly with the ECB. The Government told us two years ago that what it was doing was absolutely essential to protect the sovereignty of the country, while, in fact, it was risking it in order to protect the banks. That policy has backfired.

The Minister of State's speech was well written. He mentioned that the Minister was aiming to reduce the budget deficit to below 3% of GDP by 2014 and that this year's Government deficit would be 32% of GDP when funding for the banks was included. However, if we do not include the funding for the banks — the one-off amounts given to bail out AIB and Anglo Irish Bank — the Government deficit is still 12% of GDP. How in God's name is the Minister hoping to pull this back to 3% by 2014? This was mainly predicated on the fact we would start seeing growth in the economy by now, but we have not. Therefore, the 3% is not achievable by 2014. Why does the Government not acknowledge this and start planning on that basis? How will it achieve a reduction rather than an increase of 9% in Government spending? How will it make such a massive reduction in Government spending so as to return us to within a 3% deficit? That is not achievable. The Government should acknowledge the problems and put forward its solutions for them. Otherwise it has no credibility with anybody with even the most basic understanding of economics. I have only a basic understanding of economics and am no expert in that area. All I know I have learned in this House and from newspapers, but even still I can see the Minister of State's proposals unravel.

The Minister of State mentioned long-term unemployment. The long-term unemployed, people out of work for more than a year, make up one third of the unemployment figures — in excess of 100,000 people. This is a massive number and is a concern we must deal with urgently. Apart from the economic problem of such a massive number of unemployed people, there are also massive social consequences for the individuals and their families. We must get moving on this issue. The Minister of State also mentioned that people are being encouraged to return to third-level education to improve their skills. However, a major complaint people who want to return to education have made to me is that it is extremely difficult to get grants to do so. They lose their social welfare entitlements and face a number of other difficulties. The sense exists that the Government has not quite faced up to the national emergency, but it is its responsibility to do so.

I was somewhat annoyed yesterday to hear representatives on the Government side of the House come in and pour cold water over the Croke Park agreement. They basically said they did not agree with the Croke Park agreement, but it is part of Government policy. If Members on the Government side are breaking ranks, what hope have we of getting the country sorted out. This is the Government's responsibility. It says it was given the mandate by the people. Therefore, it is its responsibility to deliver. We will be watching for it to do this. We know there are tough times ahead and agree we too have a responsibility to play our role in the months or years to come. We will face up to that when the time comes. However, we are stuck with the current Government now. It has not done much about some of the major problems over the past couple of years, but these problems are bringing it closer to the precipice. We and the general public are concerned and need clear answers on the issues.