Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-02-15-Speech-4-234"
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"en.20010215.11.4-234"2
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"Madam President, first of all I want to thank you for chairing this session and also to thank the Commissioner for coming along. Tight control of budgetary spending since 1987, alongside a strong model of social partnership where the unions, employers and government came together, are two of the main planks of the present success of the Irish economy. Alongside this, our intention and our commitment to investing in education and in building up infrastructure and in particular to utilise the new opportunities in information technology are the further elements of this success.
In Ireland we have a commonly used phrase – "if it is not broken, why fix it". Our present growth rate at 11% is over three times the average of other Member States. We have a budget surplus of nearly 5% of our gross domestic product. Our debt/ GDP ratio is only 39%. Tax and expenditure levels at 33% make Ireland one of the lowest tax regimes in Europe. We have a binding commitment to provide 1% of our annual gross national product to meet our future public pension bills. Indeed the latest figures show that inflation, as measured on the harmonised European basis, in Ireland has now fallen to 3.9%. This rate of inflation is lower than in several of the larger Member States within the EU, if a comparison is made on the latest available economic data, for example, Spain.
I would also like to remind the European Commission that before the recent economic success in Ireland, the Irish people were required to make major sacrifices so as to guarantee that economic growth could take place. Ireland does contribute and wants to continue to contribute to the positive development of policies and programmes within the European Union. Ireland will shortly become a net contributor to the European Union budget where previously it was a net beneficiary. As well as that, Irish waters are opened up to European fishing fleets to ensure the continued success of the European fishing industry.
I believe that the economic recommendations, which would help to improve the Irish economy, should be listened to and taken heed of. However, on this occasion, I believe that the European Commission has misjudged the special nature of how the Irish economy operates. Moreover, I do not think it fully appreciates how far we have travelled in actual terms in the improvement of our economic performance. I will give to the Commissioner a list of figures to put it into context. In 1991 the provisions of the Maastricht Treaty were agreed by EU leaders, and the green light was given to the operation of the single currency. Ireland's GDP in 1991 was IEP29 billion. It is now 10 years later IEP80 billion. In 1991 we had to borrow IEP760 million to keep public services going. Today we have a budget surplus. In 1991, 1.15 million people were in our workforce. Today we have 1.67 million.
With regard to specific events of recent weeks, I believe that any mention of financially reprimanding Ireland, which is being suggested in some quarters, would be a highly regressive step. Bullyboy tactics of this sort are hardly the ingredients to build closer economic cooperation or coordination. Coercion and coordination are two diametrically opposed political and human theories. The European Union has prospered in a spirit of cooperation between various Member States working together, pursuing common political interests. The EU will not prosper into the future if confrontation is the order of the day. I am elected to represent the people of Ireland, and I and my colleagues in this Parliament will continue to represent what is in the best interests of the people of Ireland.
In conclusion, the holding of this debate on this occasion is very welcome. We welcome the opportunity to shout from the rooftops how proud we are of our performance."@en1
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