Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I did not interrupt anybody. If there is a fixed amount of money and growing demand, one can either increase the level of indebtedness or decide not to fund things one is already funding. I listened to a range of things that we would love to do, but I did not hear one Senator say we should not do this and that we should cut that, because it would not be acceptable politically.

Senator Victor Boyhan said we were building a society, not an economy. He is right. He went on to talk about his days traversing Google images. If one starts to look through Google images to see what the Government stood for in previous general elections, one will probably need to go a little further back to the previous incarnation of Google.

The Senator referred to USC. The Government is committed to implementation of the reform needed in respect of PRSI and USC.

I thought I would give up at one stage when I was listening to some contributions, then I heard a voice of wisdom. Senator Ian Marshall spoke about risk. He is dead right - there are real risks to the economy. He comes from a Border county and probably understands things better than many of us here.

Senator Kieran O'Donnell referred to the National Pension Reserve Fund and the comparison with the rainy day fund. He is right. The rainy day fund is an absolute necessity. Everybody spoke about what had happened in the past and said we should learn from it. Some said we should learn from the past but do nothing about it, in other words, that we should not have an insurance policy. The ordinary people who have paid a heavy price would find it hard to swallow that we learn from the mistakes of the past but put nothing in place.

Senator Rose Conway-Walsh wants us all to inhabit the real world. That is a good one. She mentioned corporation tax receipts but then went on to talk about the tax choices the Government had made in the last budget, one of which was to retain the 9% VAT rate. The Senator comes from a tourism county which has some fantastic amenities, including the greenway from Westport to Newport and on to the sea. I am sure people in County Mayo would be aghast to hear the 9% VAT rate was being opposed by a Senator from a tourism county.