Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome my constituency colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Perry and, as I have done in the past, wish him continued success in his very challenging position. It is not one that can always deliver on aspirations in these difficult times. I know the Minister of State's business background has prepared and equipped him very well for the job in hand.

Two reports published in the past week are of some significance. One was the Central Bank report which indicated that we are still, despite our best efforts, not competitive with our trading partners. In light of the fact that there is a difference of some 10% between Irish labour costs and those of our trading partners, the Central Bank in its report did not quantify and specify the areas in which this 10% differential existed. I am not sure if the Minister has any information but it seemed that one boot was thrown out and one is now waiting for the second one to fall. The report was somewhat flawed in that it did not specify the areas. That would have been helpful. There has been no follow-up or response from the Central Bank since last week about what areas of the economy contain this 10% differential. It is clear there are some areas where the competitive differential is much lower. It would be helpful to the Minister of the State and the Government if there was an awareness of the sectors that need to be addressed. The Minister of State may have some comments to make in that respect.

The other report was the IMF report, which was published this morning and received some airing in both Houses. It said the IMF had underestimated the impact of austerity policies in Ireland. This is significant coming from a group of people who, when it was first mooted would be coming to Ireland as part of the troika, were greeted as if it was Dracula descending on the country. This was because, traditionally, the IMF had nearly bankrupted Third World countries because of the very stringent fiscal policies it imposed on those unfortunate countries. However, it turned out to be much more benign and if one looks at the three entities in the troika - the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the IMF - the IMF have come out as the angels in all of this. It is the entity that has pulled the other two back from imposing further austerity on the people.

I would be interested in hearing the Minister of State's comments on this in the context of his brief. The inference from the IMF report is that not only this Administration but the previous one got it wrong. We must remember that the recession started in 2008 and the first of the fiscal austerity budgets was introduced following 2008. The amount of money pulled out of the Irish economy over those four years is of the order of ¤25 billion, which is an extraordinary sum of money. It would be interesting if the Minister of State had some comment to make in the context of that report. I do not expect that it will mean a change of direction in Irish fiscal policy but I am sure there will be some discussion around the Cabinet table.

I wish to bring two areas to the attention of the Minister of State. There are reports circulating in the UK that legislation is being prepared that would impose a £100 levy on all commercial traffic going into and out of the UK. If that was to be implemented in law, it would be the death knell for many transport companies that are already put to the pin of their collar because of rising costs. I am not sure if the Minister of State is aware of this because I had it checked out as a member of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications last year. The information I received was that it is only at proposal stage and is not yet drafted in legislation. Again, it is something the Minister of State should watch out for because it impacts on small and medium-sized enterprises.

Linked to this would the Minister of State support the view that our fuel costs have risen to such an unacceptable level that they are now directly affecting jobs in the transport and haulage market and the wider economy? I know we have no money and are a bust flush but sometimes in a budget, the Minister for Finance comes up with one or two innovative schemes that stimulate a particular area of the economy. It all about targeting resources but I make the plea that serious consideration be given to reducing the burden of fuel costs on the Irish economy and specifically on the transport and SME sectors. Even if it was only to be a few cent, the psychological impact of that would be a stimulus rather than impacting adversely on the overall budgetary situation.