ECONOMY:FINE GAEL was offering a new economic vision with a radically-reformed public sector at its core, deputy leader and finance spokesman Richard Bruton told the party's national conference in Wexford at the weekend.
The Government had promoted a high-spending economy over the past five years, but this was built on quicksand and supported by a property bubble.
At a conference session entitled Recovery through Reform: Getting the Economy Back on Track he said the recent Budget showed the Government was unprepared when the economic storm broke. Ireland had to reinvent its competitive advantage and new economic opportunities had to be created.
There were standing ovations at the beginning and end of Mr Bruton’s speech and he quipped as he began to speak that former Labour Party leader Dick Spring remarked to him recently: “You’re in danger of becoming an overnight success.”
“This Government has lost sight of what it takes to survive in a small, open economy. Where the need is to be nimble, alert and efficient, it has become sluggish, complacent and wasteful.
“This Government inhabits a totally different world from those who try to run small businesses competing in tough export markets,” he said.
He continued: “Failure to face the fundamental reforms necessary has made Ireland the only country forced to raise taxes and cut capital investment when every other country is planning a stimulus. A new economic vision can only be delivered with a radically reformed public sector at its core. It is not just a matter of a Government living within sustainable tax revenues generated by the economy.
“More profoundly, modern competitive edge is built from roots in the education system, on foundations in well-run infrastructures and well-planned communities and through opportunities forged by responsive policies.”
Speaking from the floor, Jim Allen, a member of Wexford Borough Council, said he owned a small information technology business in the town.
“I am suffering from the anti-business policies of this Government,” he said.
