Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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Question 31: To ask the Minister for Finance if he will report on his recent meeting in Dublin with the secretary of the OECD; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42564/09]

Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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Secretary General Angel Gurriá visited Ireland on 4th November, and launched the OECD Economic Survey of Ireland and presented the conclusions and recommendations of the Environmental Performance review of Ireland, to be published early in 2010. He also met myself, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Taoiseach, the Tánaiste, the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government and the Minister of State for Overseas Development.

Commenting on the Irish economy he remarked that having enjoyed unprecedented levels of growth as an open, export-oriented economy, Ireland has now experienced - in the context of a global financial crisis - a dramatic and rapid turn-around of its fortunes, which nobody had foreseen. Mr. Gurriá noted that adjustments taken to date are of the order of 5% of GDP. However, he highlighted the need for further fiscal consolidation and also timely action to create confidence in the markets and with investors. A drawing-out of the period of the necessary adjustments would he said only prolong the pain and make the economy less competitive as the price of borrowing would rise.

Mr. Gurriá discussed NAMA and his own experience (as Mexico's Finance Minister) in dealing with bad assets and re-capitalisation. He warned of the risks associated with the narrowing gap between effective wage rates and unemployment benefit levels, which could lead to a disincentive to take up employment.

People needed to be persuaded of the need to make adjustments and particularly to regain our competitiveness in readiness for a global upturn. Confidence in the economy needed to be restored. The priority of the Government is to stabilise the fiscal and economic position with a view to returning to sustainable growth in 2011 and beyond. Structural issues in the economy had to be tackled.

I welcomed the OECD's fair and balanced assessment of the Irish economy, which recognises the Government's commitment to stabilise and restore sustainability to the public finances. I feel that the establishment of NAMA, together with the initiatives we are pursuing to restore competitiveness and to put the public finances in order, will help position Ireland to take the earliest possible advantage of the economic recovery that is taking hold in the EU and in the rest of the world.