If you look at budget speeches made by Richard Bruton TD over the last number of years he clearly warned the government on the risks they were taking with our future.
On 1 December 2004, in his Budget 2005 speech, he makes it clear that employment in export industries was falling and was being replaced by jobs in building and Government jobs.
On the 7th December 2005, he states, "The core of this budget should have concentrated on these real challanges.
*Reform to deliver real improvements at the FRONT LINE in public services.
*Improving the COMPETITIVENESS of businesses trying to survive in tough externat markets.
*Confronting rip off at its source.
*Eliminating gross waste in public spending
But these have not been the subject of today's budget.
Even as far back as 5 December 2006, Richard Bruton said in his 2007 Budget speech, "YOU CANNOT BUILD INDEFINITE SPENDIND GROWTH ON THE BACK OF A BUILDING BOOM NO MORE THAN YOU CAN BUILD LONGTERM ECCONOMIC PROSPERITY ON THE BACK OF A BUILDING BOOM".
By the time we get to 5 December 2007 for Bubget 2008, he was expressing concern that it might already be too lake to protect what we had at that point.
By the time Richard Burton stood up to make his speech @ THE EMERGENCY BUDGET of April 2009, the downward spiral had started, unemployment was shooting up and tax revenue was dropping like a stone.
The present Taoiseach, and former Minister for Finance, sat throught all of these speech over the last five years and fail to act.
Dr. Liam Twomey, Fine Gael Wexford
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