Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I support what many of my colleagues have said, especially Senator Coghlan who spoke of the need to bring a degree of certainty to the economic debate. We have enough detail to go on now although it might be more helpful if final figures were available from Government. There is a general recognition across the political spectrum now of the absolute need to stick to the 3% figure, the deadline of 2014 and the need for a €15 billion adjustment. We must be generally supportive of the front-loading figure as pronounced by Senator Coghlan but I recognise also that the front-loading of €4.5 billion or €5 billion of adjustments will cause significant difficulty across the economy. Although it may be necessary we must try to focus on the other side of the equation, namely, the need for some degree of a stimulus plan. In that regard, what was said by Senators Harris and O'Toole, in particular, about trying to spend some of the moneys currently on deposit must be considered. We must also recognise what Senator Regan noted, namely, there are many spending and administrative blocks in the system which must be tackled and taken out of commission. This has been a problem not only in recent times but during the past decade. Projects are approved but do not commence for many years because of planning and other objections.

We must say to the public that this recession will end, as all recessions do, and when it ends we will have a better society in place. It is up to us to show the leadership to create that better society and to ensure we will try to tackle the blockages in the system. We must reflect in tomorrow's debate on what Senator Coghlan said about front-loading because in so far as is possible we must show the colour of our various political moneys and try to present reasonable presentations of how the adjustments can be made. "Adjustment" is a dictionary term but adjustments will mean tax increases, cutbacks and pain for many people and we try to ensure it is done in a very fair and balanced fashion.