Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

I thank Senators from all sides of the House who participated in this debate for their generous comments. Most of those who spoke expressed their support for the programme for Government. As a new Minister, it is a particular privilege for me to represent the Government for the first time in the Seanad. I have not yet had an opportunity to engage in a debate in the Dáil Chamber or to make progress with the Government's legislative agenda in that House. I listened with great interest to the comments that were made by various Members. I hope they will forgive me if it is not possible to respond to all of the issues that were raised and the many constructive and helpful suggestions that were made.

I want to make a specific point about the programme for Government in general. It is a very serious programme. It was agreed over the course of some very serious discussions. It is designed in the public interest. We have a serious intent to implement all aspects of the programme. There is no question of selected aspects of it being implemented while other parts of it are ignored. The programme for Government provides for substantial reforms across a broad range of areas. I draw the attention of Senator Harris to the fact that it includes substantial public sector reform. It seems from the speech he made in the House today that he has missed the relevant part of the programme.

I listened with interest to what a number of Senators said about fiscal, financial and banking issues. Senator Regan summed it up extremely well. Solemn promises about tax issues were made by European leaders to the electorate of this State during the debate on the Lisbon treaty. They said that Irish tax issues would remain the internal concern of the Houses of the Oireachtas and that Europe would not impose a tax structure on this State. There is a general view across all parties that we must protect our position in the area of corporation tax. It is important that our partners in Europe recognise the fact that Ireland, as a small island off the European mainland, is a peripheral state in the context of the European Union. If we are to attract multinational companies, retain those that came here after being promised our corporation tax rate would remain at 12.5% and assist existing operations that wish to expand, it is crucial that we keep our faith with them and that Europe keeps its faith with us as we try to protect existing jobs and create new jobs in our economy.

Senator Harris is extraordinarily wrong about a number of issues. I listened to his eloquent speech and I do not mean to be unduly critical. The decibel level at which a speech is delivered often belies the nature of the content of that speech. I have a long memory of Senator Harris's political prophecies. I have a distinct memory of the lead-in to the 2007 general election, when he acted as a cheerleader for the return to government of the catastrophic Fianna Fáil-led Government that was then in place. Prior to its re-election in 2007, that Government had laid the foundation for the economic and banking catastrophe with which we are familiar. It proceeded to make catastrophic banking decisions from 2007 onwards, during Senator Harris's period in this House. This Government must now address the legacy of those decisions.

Senator Harris was quite incorrect when he said "the Becher's Brook this Government faces is not the banking crisis". I suggest the Becher's Brook this country is facing is indeed the banking crisis. Two and a half years after the outgoing Government took the steps that were allegedly supposed to resolve our banking difficulties, the extent of the seriousness of this crisis will become clearer when the stress tests of all the banks and financial institutions — this work is on the verge of completion — are finally published at the end of March. The outcome of those tests will pose a huge challenge to this Government. It will raise issues of substantial importance with regard to the future of this State and its economy.

I emphasise that how those issues are addressed will substantially impact on the capacity of this State to bring about prosperity in the future, tackle our jobs crisis and ensure we have the economic growth, and particularly the growth in our domestic economy, that was envisaged when the EU-IMF agreement was entered into. Those growth projections play a crucial part in meeting our debt obligations and tackling the major economic difficulties with which we are confronted. That truly is the Becher's Brook we must address.

I apologise for dwelling on Senator Harris's contribution but this is his final contribution in the Seanad. The Fine Gael Members in this Government will work with our partners in government, the Labour Party, to tackle in a united way all the issues, including those that must be addressed to produce a more efficient and cost-effective public sector which is affordable within the limitations of this State. I was curious about the comment he made in respect of the Fine Gael Party in some way flunking whatever it is he thought my party flunked. He made a reference to me as one of the architects of the programme for Government. The Senator seems to have ignored an arithmetical issue which all the other Senators clearly appreciate. The Fine Gael Party won 76 seats in the general election and the Labour Party won 37 seats. With 76 seats, the Fine Gael Party could not have formed a Government.