Derek Keating (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

To ask the Minister for Finance his views on the achievements that his Department has realised since he presented Budget 2011/2012 regarding the economic circumstances he inherited; if he will outline his policies which will ensure that recovery is achieved from our current economic circumstances; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1770/13]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

This Government took office in March 2011 inheriting an economy that had not seen growth since 2007 and with most of the key macroeconomic indicators in negative territory. Employment was in decline while unemployment was still rising. This Government immediately set out about putting the economy on the path to recovery and outlined a number of priorities aimed at fixing our broken banking system, restoring order to our public finances, regaining and enhancing our international competitiveness, supporting the protection and creation of jobs, reforming our system of public administration, and rebuilding Ireland’s reputation on the international stage. These priorities have been to the centre of Government policies introduced including the Jobs Initiative in May 2011, the first budget of this Government, Budget 2012 on 6th December 2011, the launch of the Action Plan for Jobs in February 2012 and our second budget last month.

Since taking office, the economy returned to growth for the first time in three years in 2011 and a second successive year of positive growth was recorded last year. Encouragingly there are signs of a stabilisation of domestic demand in the second half of last year, and there is some evidence that confidence appears to be improving.

Looking to this year, it is fair to say that the external environment in which the Irish economy operates remains challenging. Despite this, the outlook for 2013 is for a further modest expansion of economic activity, with GDP currently expected to increase by 1.5 per cent in real terms.

In terms of the public finances, 2012 was a successful year. We continued to meet our targets under the EU/IMF programme and successfully re-engaged with the international bond markets, where the yields on Irish Government bonds have fallen sharply.

A return to sustainable growth will require continued efforts to restore order to the public finances and for this year we are targeting a further improvement in the fiscal deficit, which is on course to be below 3 per cent of GDP by 2015. We will also need further improvements in our competitiveness and a banking sector capable of supporting real economic activity. These are the areas in which government policy is focused and will underpin our economic recovery.