Joe O'Toole (Independent)

Over the weekend there was a certain level of certainty and regardless of whether we like it, the Government has a clear target of a deficit figure 3% of GDP by 2014, with budget cuts of €15 billion being frontloaded. This means people should and will know where they stand in the next few weeks, even though they might not like it. They will know that the upcoming budget will be the worst they will need to suffer, which will allow them the confidence to move forward. Similarly, in the case of the Croke Park agreement, we need top level targets for the numbers of jobs that will be extinguished and the savings to be generated in order that we will know whether it will be a success or otherwise. It is not a question of salaries; we need to look at the overall savings to be made.

We also need to ask what the private sector is doing. There are three pots of gold: pensioners, many of whom are paid every month and afraid to spend money; public servants, whose jobs are protected and who seem to be afraid to spend money; and, the biggest pot of all, the €90 billion in savings and the €10 billion in the national pensions fund. We are talking about taking €15 billion out of the economy at a time when there is in excess of €100 billion in savings in the country. I ask my colleagues in the private sector to come up with strategies and approaches to release some of this money. All we need is for people to spend €1.50 out of every €10 saved, which would put more back into the economy than the €15 billion to be taken out of it. Let us consider this as a focus to restore consumer confidence. I was not enthusiastic about the car scrappage scheme introduced earlier this year, but it worked; it was a good bargain which got people to spend money.

We need to clear the blockages, including the blockage in the hotel industry. NAMA hotels which are owned by the State and the banks are undercutting, undermining and destroying the business of hotel owners who are in the industry for the long term. Hotels not taken over by NAMA or run by the banks should be able to avail of a tax break for every room filled over the course of the next year in order to have fair competition. The same banks which destroyed the country are now destroying another industry.

There is a pot of gold available to get the economy moving. It is our money, not European Union money or money from the bond market. All of the money that needs to be taken out of the economy can be put back in by encouraging Irish people to spend €1.50 out of every €10 of their savings. People are now saving 10% of their income; the figure has never been as high in the history of the State and will drive the economy into statis.