Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Today, and on other occasions, I have heard Senators refer to this country's reputation being restored. The clear inference is that in some way the economy has turned the corner. Unfortunately, many in Government believe that. It is a travesty because we are far from out of the current difficulties. Anyone who has been out canvassing will have got first-hand experience of the difficulties people encounter around the country, if they were not aware of it through their clinics. Some people who are unemployed and others who have jobs find it difficult to make ends meet. We must face up to the significant challenges we have. We have made marginal progress since 2008. I have said in this House previously - it gives me no joy to say it - that I do not see us getting out of this mess before 2020, and we would be lucky to be out of it at that stage.

We failed to cut public expenditure and I would ask for the Minister to come into the House for an open and honest debate on this. Public expenditure in 2013 is not much less than it was in 2008, when all this occurred.

I had lunch with a former Minister for Foreign Affairs today and we discussed the Baltic states in particular. She told me that in Estonia, the growth rate is over 3% and in Latvia it is over 4%, but those states cut their expenditure. We have been extracting more and more from the productive sector to the stage where we are squeezing it dry. I do not see that as the way to extricate ourselves from our difficulties. Events in Cyprus are only the start. We will see this in other countries and if it happens in one of the larger economies, which I think it might do, it will be disastrous for the whole of Europe. Unless we get our house in order and balance our fiscal budget quickly and in the right way, we will be exposed to another serious recession on top of the difficulties people are encountering. We should not allow that to happen.

If we are waiting for the courts to make decisions like they did yesterday, we are in dereliction of our duties as politicians and the Government is in dereliction of its duty. We should be dealing with these issues in a straight up way that can be communicated and explained to people. Let us do that and let us not pander to party political advantage. The people will see through that.