Taoiseach’s address

TONIGHT I’m taking the opportunity to speak to you directly on the challenge we face as a community, as an economy, and as a country.

I know this is an exceptional event.

But we live in exceptional times.

And we face an exceptional challenge.

At the end of last year, our economy was in deep crisis.

And while steps to recover from the crisis have been taken we remain in crisis today.

I would love to tell you tonight that our economic problems are solved, that the worst is over.

But, for far too many of you, that is simply not the truth.

My Government is determined that now the necessary decisions and changes are made to ensure that this is never allowed to happen again.

Right now, our most important responsibility is to do what must be done to get our economy back on its feet.

That requires fixing the enormous deficit in our public finances caused by too much borrowing and the cost of rescuing the banks.

We all know that if, in our own lives, we are spending more than we are earning — we have a problem.

Right now, the state is spending €16 billion a year more than it is taking in.

That means that in this budget we must cut public spending by €2.2bn and raise €1.6bn in extra taxes.

This budget will be tough — it has to be.

It will move us towards a manageable deficit of 3% of our GDP by 2015.

But getting the deficit under control is just a means to an end.

The main purpose of this budget, and of our four year strategy, is the creation of jobs for our people.

This budget will be a jobs budget in two ways:

Firstly, by putting our public finances back onto a sound footing.

As our deficit moves to sustainable levels, investors will start regaining their confidence in Ireland and credit will be made available at better rates.

This means businesses will be able to start borrowing, expanding, and hiring again.

Secondly, the budget will include a series of targeted measures specifically designed to create jobs and get people back to work.

It will include, among other initiatives, a new system of loan guarantees will enable banks to resume lending and a new micro finance scheme which will help people to start their own businesses.

This will allow small firms to take on one or even two employees:-

New jobs to create new incomes, to assist the economy on the path to growth and confidence.

To make sure we keep as many jobs as we can, to make sure you get to bring home as much as you can, and to make sure you know where you stand with your wages.

To give you some certainty for the year ahead, we’re leaving income tax untouched.

Instead, we will raise the 1.6 billion of extra taxes that Ireland needs mainly through indirect taxes, difficult though these will be.

The highest priority is to create more jobs, but we will also do all we can to protect the most vulnerable in our communities — our children, the sick, and the elderly.

I wish I could tell you that the budget won’t impact on every citizen in need, but I can’t.

Difficult choices are never easy, but we will invest in crucial projects like the National Children’s Hospital, school buildings and health centres.

Before asking families to make sacrifices, we also insisted on sacrifices from those at the top:

We cut the pay and removed state cars and Garda drivers for ministers.

In the last few weeks I have informed former taoisigh that entitlements, like free mobile phones and staff allowances are being withdrawn.

The pay and pensions of senior public servants have been cut.

This week’s budget will go further.

Fifty quangos will be abolished or merged, and the public sector will be downsized by 23,000 people by 2015.

Next year, we will hold a referendum to abolish the Seanad.

But these steps are just a start.

We are part of the European Union.

All the changes we undertake ourselves are set against the backdrop of continuing uncertainty about the future of the European single currency.

Let me be clear — Ireland supports stronger economic governance throughout Europe, and particularly in the eurozone.

In fact, the Irish people are paying the price now for the absence of such rules in the past.

European leaders must make and — more importantly this time must implement — clear decisions this week to prove our shared determination to protect our currency.

Otherwise, international confidence and investment in Europe will continue to fall.

In the ongoing negotiations in Europe, I will work to achieve a positive outcome for Ireland — one that ensures and protects our economic security.

I am very optimistic for the future.

I want to be the Taoiseach who retrieves Ireland’s economic sovereignty, and who leads a Government that will help our country succeed.

I want to make this the best small country in the world in which to do business, in which to raise a family and in which to grow old with dignity and respect.

Next Tuesday, December 6, is the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty in 1921.

Just as our fledgling state made its way to becoming a Republic then, I believe with all my heart, that we the Irish people can now make our way to recovery, to prosperity and to the fulfilment of the dreams of our children and the founding fathers of our nation.