I wish to speak today against the backdrop of the budget last year and the economic situation Ireland finds itself in. There is no doubt we find ourselves in a strange economic place. We are in a place where we have budget surpluses. We are not in an era of budget deficits, which was something we all grew up with in this State. It was a situation that came against us with the crash. This is also a situation that is widespread across Europe and in many areas across the world. We are in a situation where we have billions of a surplus. That brings a need for big and difficult decisions, some of which were taken in the budget. The easy thing is to continue to spend. We have done a lot of spending. We have significantly increased our public spending over the last number of years. That is something of which we always have to be conscious. We also have to be conscious of maintaining fiscal discipline and ensure that we do not just spend the tax receipts that are coming in because, ultimately, we do not know exactly how long they will last. We have a situation where we have windfall taxes of up to €20 billion. We have a budget surplus of €9 billion or €10 billion. We know that if the situation changes or the headwinds change the Irish economy would be in a very different situation and we would not have the money to back it up, but ultimately that is not the situation that exists here. The strong economic planning of this Government, and of previous governments, has led us into this situation where we do have that money. What this Government has decided to do is to spend heavily on infrastructure, which is something I would consider a significant need. As a councillor for a number of years in north Kildare, I saw the growth in the development of housing, which was obviously welcome, but we need the infrastructure to go with it. This is what the budget plans for and what future budgets over the next five years will continue to do. We need schools, roads, rail lines, wastewater plants and football pitches for people. That is one strong section of this budget and something that we have ensured that we deliver. It is very easy to write cheques for this and that and to keep increasing spending. That is broadly what populists wish to do. I do not mean just in Ireland but across the world. We have seen the difficulties in many countries where populists have taken over politically. In Ireland we are lucky that we do not necessarily have that division, but at the same time those risks and demands exist. As we continue to spend, there is a risk that we are not competitive for SMEs, which is another area I am very passionate about. We need to ensure that Irish companies are working in step with those US and other foreign-based companies that come to Ireland. Ultimately, indigenous Irish businesses and SMEs are what will keep us afloat, and are what have kept us afloat through the good and the bad. They are the people we rely on, so we need to ensure that they remain competitive and that we can support them. Most of the decisions we made in this budget were to support local businesses and ensure that we got extra housing delivery. They were the type of decisions that we made. This is one of five budgets for this Government. There will be an aligned approach in the next budget. We might see a variance from a personal income perspective but that will go along with the budgetary and housing supports in this one. Research and development tax credits might not necessarily get the kudos, plaudits or headlines but improvements in that regard are what keep those large businesses in place in Ireland. Companies like Intel, which is based in north Kildare, can benefit from such a tax credit, but small companies can also benefit from it. Tax credits are the sort of initiative and incentive that make sure we have jobs in our country. While this budget might not have garnered the same headlines from a populist point of view, what it did was put the economy on a solid footing. It ensured that we did not waste the money over the coming years. What we have done is put it into capital spending, infrastructure, businesses and housing, so we can ensure that in the coming years it could be the source of future economic success. Ultimately, we are going to be here and we are going to be judged before the next election. I want to ensure Ireland is on a good economic footing and that people in Ireland can benefit. A short win today, politically, would not necessarily be of benefit in the long term. I see this budget as being one of five budgets to ensure the future of Ireland. I welcome the initiatives that were put in place in the budget and in the Finance Bill we are talking about today.

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