Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)

I thank the House for the opportunity to speak on this important matter. I am aware that a number of Senators have been seeking a debate of this nature for some time. I am delighted to be here. The Croke Park agreement was put in place as part of a strategic response to an unprecedented economic crisis. Since 2008, this country has been struggling to bridge an enormous and unsustainable fiscal deficit. I do not intend to go into detail on the origins of this crisis and who is to blame for it. Opinions on such issues have been put on the record many times before. The significant gap between what we are spending as a nation and the revenues we are raising to pay for that spending needs to be closed. We are bound by our commitments to our international partners because we depend on them to pay our way, particularly between now and 2013. The Government's overriding priority is for this country to regain full control of its own affairs as quickly as possible. To that end, we will continue to take difficult but necessary decisions to put our house in order. We understand that future economic growth will come from a solid and sustainable fiscal position. Fortunately, the 2011 Exchequer returns confirmed that we are comfortably meeting the deficit targets under the EU-IMF programme. The budget we introduced in December continues this sustainable path for our deficit.