Paul Bradford (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the report and the work of Mr. Flannery and his colleagues to bring us this far. Ronald Reagan described the following sentence as the most feared in the American political language: "I am from the Government and I am here to help." We are trying to encourage civic participation to a greater level. It would be a wonderful thing if the old Irish spirit of community help and community giving could be formalised by this and other structures. The Irish tradition was one of giving and of communities coming together to help. One of the great victims of the Celtic tiger was that type of approach but now that we are in a different economic place, many more people are reflected on what really matters in society. The structures presented by the Minister can make a meaningful difference. Much work remains to be done to change our mindset.

We can contrast western Europe and the United States.

Western Europe has a general policy of high taxation and high state involvement, a policy that produces certain results in the United States as a result of these types of schemes.