Paddy Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House. This is a great debate. We have debated this issue up and down and the Minister will hear more before the evening is out. I am sure the Departments of the Ministers for Finance and for Public Expenditure and Reform are looking in at what is being debated here as well.

What has happened over the last ten or 12 years is unprecedented. We have had the crash, the pandemic and now the war. This is happening not just in Ireland but right across the world. There is a scarcity of commodities caused by various things from the war to the pandemic. Work ceased in many places with the result that there was no production. You can see it in semiconductors for cars. There is scarcity of cars because there is a scarcity of semiconductors, batteries and battery parts. That is why the price of rented cars is so high. There is a scarcity of many things right around the world. It is a perfect storm and in many ways, in many areas and in nearly every country in the world, everybody is suffering.

I fully support the motion put down this evening. It is a good motion and one that has allowed every party here debate what has happened. Over the last number of years Governments have pumped more than €50 billion into the economy. They have done some great things. It is unbelievable what Governments have done over the last number of years. That is why the country is going so well at the moment. We have full employment. Why is this? We have full employment because Governments have managed things well. They have borrowed money and pumped it into various sectors and areas in the economy. These are the taxes that are coming back that can help everybody. Look back at what has happened over the last ten or 12 years, as I said. Senator Gavan quoted an economist earlier on. Those same economists said back in 2011 that we had to take money out of the economy and that we had to run down banks. He quoted them as referring to financial incontinence.