Ian Marshall (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donovan. It is good to confirm that the Irish economy is growing again at a healthy pace. That is encouraging. An effort is being made to balance the books. Comments have been made about labour. Even though the labour market is fairly buoyant again, it is not that long ago since the figures were alarming and everybody was concerned about where the labour market was.

When we look at the summer economic statement and the reference made to policy designed to ensure steady and sustainable growth, we need to be cognisant of the fact there is so much uncertainty, especially with reference to Brexit. There is a lot of uncertainty out there and people are still nervous. We probably have not had sustainable growth for a long enough period to be reassured that we are back onto a steady track.

For me and for many of my colleagues, risk is a big component of this. It is about mitigation of risk and building resilience into the economy. Ultimately, we must take a strategic approach to what is sustainable and what a sustainable economy will look like and all the components of that.

When I look through the document, I see we are dealing with the legacies of a crisis, and those legacies persist. What concerns me is the €42,000 of debt for every man, woman and child in the country. It is alarming not just in the context of Ireland. When one looks to our neighbours and to trade, we really need to address this. How long will it take to address this and to get it down to a manageable level? What does a manageable level look like? Is it the top or bottom quartile of OECD countries? It is encouraging to see that the Government is prioritising the reduction of public debt and a rainy day fund is prudent for any economy. The avoidance of the pro-cyclical budgetary policy is also to the Government's credit.

Ultimately, this Government will be judged by what policy feels like for the man and woman in the street. Could it feel better? Credit must be given where credit is due. It is very much a case of steady as it goes but to quote Mr. Donald Rumsfeld, it is about the known knowns, the known unknowns and the unknown unknowns. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of unknown unknowns out there. Brexit has posed a lot of uncertainty with a knock-on effect or consequences for Europe. When I say steady as it goes, we need to chart a straight path through what are very choppy waters in the short term.