I thank the Deputy for the question and for his kind remarks. The Government faced the challenge of restoring stability to the public finances and creating the correct environment to support sustainable economic growth and job creation. Gross voted expenditure has been reduced from €63.1 billion in 2009 to €54 billion last year. While implementing these expenditure reductions, the Government has sought as best it could to protect the most vulnerable and to support economic growth. In this regard, its programme of public service reform has played a pivotal role in mitigating the impact of expenditure reductions by contributing towards the effective and efficient delivery of public services.
The measures taken by the Government, combined with the effective prioritisation and allocation of resources to vital areas, have ensured its success in restoring stability to the public finances. This stability is a necessary prerequisite of creating an environment for further economic growth and job creation. The Deputy will note that in 2014, the economy expanded by 4.8% to become the fastest growing economy in Europe, with domestic demand and personal consumption now also contributing to economic growth. Unemployment at the end of February was at 10.1%, a reduction from a peak of more than 15% in 2011. The Government's fiscal adjustment target for 2015 is a deficit of 2.7% which, when achieved, will ensure Ireland's exit from the excessive deficit procedure. Members will have seen the expectation in the ESRI report published this morning that the unemployment rate will be 8.4% by next year. When the Government came into office four years ago, had anyone suggested it would halve unemployment in its term, people would have looked on with disbelief. However, that is a measure of the progress it has made.
