Tomorrow, 7 May, marks the first anniversary of the elevation of Deputy Cowen to the rank of Taoiseach. In that time it is important that we look not only at the loss of the Lisbon treaty referendum, the death of social partnership, the three failed budgets, the lack of action on public service reform and the doubling of unemployment in 12 months to 384,000, but at the contradictions in the past 12 months. On the day he was elected as Taoiseach he stated that the fundamentals of the economy were still good and that, although we were not immune to international trends, we would do better than others. The stability and growth pact, as he will be aware, is 3%. We now have the largest deficit in the EU, running up to 11% or 12% of GDP and we are experiencing a recession that is twice as bad as that of the US or the UK. On the day that he was elected as Taoiseach he stated that reform of the public service was of the greatest urgency for him. The only reform introduced in the past 12 months has been slash and burn at the front line, where nurses are now working without contract and where a pension levy, which was unfair, has been delivered to the public service. On the day he was elected as Taoiseach he stated that throwing money at problems in the health service was not the way they should be handled and that serious reforms had to be undertaken, yet waiting lists remain unacceptably long and there has been no progress on primary care or on achieving value for the people's money.

Looking back at that 12 months, the Taoiseach either believed what he was telling us, in which case it is incompetence on his part and on the part of the Government, or misled himself and the people, in which case it is a question of denial. How does he account for the state of the country that he has led for the past 12 months? How does he account for the situation in which we find ourselves which is utterly depressing and on which he has given no reassurance whatsoever that he or his Government has the capacity to lead the people out of the mess he created?

I thank Deputy Kenny for wishing me well on my first anniversary.

The Taoiseach will not be here tomorrow.

That is coming next.

Get your retaliation in first.

Can the Taoiseach tell us of his achievements?

It is a joke.

In fact, the Taoiseach might not be here much longer.

From the Government's point of view, the task we have had to undertake, in the context of the economic situation our country and others face, has meant we have had to involve ourselves in expenditure cuts totalling over €4.3 billion. That is 3% of GNP, a reduction greater than that taken by any other country in Europe. We have also had to increase taxes, a measure totalling €3.8 billion. I accept that level of adjustment of over €8 billion is an imposition on the people. It is, however, a necessary response, a balance between expenditure cuts and taxation measures, given the scale of the problems we face and the need to provide a sustainable path forward. This week the European Commission acknowledged the courageous efforts made by this Government to create a sustainable path for our public finances.

The basic point I have been making in this House for some time is that the rectification of our public finance position is an absolute prerequisite to economic recovery. The critique outlined by Deputy Kenny, in which he criticises the fact that expenditure savings had to be made and tax increases considered and implemented, flies in the face of that basic fact about recovery. He contends, as do his spokespersons, that the Government has not done enough with further expenditure savings. Yet he does not identify those further savings, in addition to ones we have already identified for this current year, which he feels are necessary or appropriate.

Deputy Kenny also seeks to contend that tax increases are not necessary to the corrective measures that have to be taken. We have outlined the plans in overall expenditure cuts and taxation measures that have to be considered for this year, for next year and the year after. We are also waiting on the Commission on Taxation to give a considered view of all the measures that the Government intends introducing in the further budgets.

The measures taken by this Government in the past 12 months have been very significant, not only in respect of the public finances but other major issues to deal with the financial crisis such as the banking crisis, etc. All of these measures are part of an overall plan to bring balance back to the public finances over a reasonable timescale. We have the agreement of the social partners in that task, as shown in the framework we agreed with them in January this year. They accept, on the basis of common analysis and the NESC report, that as a prerequisite to economic recovery we must make these changes, corrections and adjustments.

In the meantime, Deputy Kenny seeks to obtain an opportunity to exploit this for the popular mood. Of course these measures are unpopular in the short term. However, they are necessary in the longer term and in the interests of the country.

We had a different view on how to frame the recent budget. We argued for a two-third cut in spending and one-third tax increase approach. The Government, however, chose a different avenue.

Do the Taoiseach's Ministers realise the extent of anger on the streets when so much has been taken from so many? They had nothing to do with the problem that was caused by others which the Government has failed to rectify.

If the Taoiseach believed what he said a year ago, he has gone from hero to zero in 12 months. The problem is that the Taoiseach has no mandate for what he is now doing. As Taoiseach, he has not submitted himself to the people for adjudication. Before the Lisbon treaty referendum last year, I advised people to hold their fire about the Government until the local and European elections this year. The Taoiseach has said it is his way or no way. Yet, he has banjaxed the economy and robbed the people of their money. He has destroyed the hopes and careers of thousands of young people by failing to deliver confidence, trust and integrity in the country's future. He has failed to deliver a more efficient public service, health reform or rectify the public finances. Yet, he says he will do it his way when it is clearly not working.

On 5 June the people will cast their verdict on the Government in the local, European and by-elections. If the Taoiseach accepts that it his way or no way and if the people convict him and his Government, is he prepared to submit his Government to a general election? If the people reject the Government parties' candidates on 5 June, will the Taoiseach submit his Government to the people so they can have a government with a mandate to lead our nation out of the mess created by Fianna Fáil and the Greens?

The Deputy can make whatever he wants from talking at the doors.

We are not electing a Government on 5 June; we are electing local authorities, people to the European Parliament and there are to be two by-elections. We look forward to engaging with the people in those campaigns, as many of our hundreds of candidates are already doing.

There is not much evidence of that on the ground.

The people are engaging with Fianna Fáil all right.

Despite what the Deputy says, there are many people in the country who recognise that corrective measures must be taken and the Government has a responsibility to discharge, which they respect.

There are those like the Deputy who seek to suggest there is an easier way forward without increasing income taxes. He stated in his supplementary question that he would have provided a greater level of expenditure cuts but, again, with no specifics on them.

Where were those cuts to be implemented? It was all about a performance budget.

Our budget was about creating 120,000 jobs.

It has been acknowledged that the changes we had to make in the tax system are progressive, in that a greater requirement has been made, rightly, on higher incomes. The Deputy has made a series of assertions claiming the Government has failed to rectify the public finances. We are in the process of rectifying them but it will be done over several years. The country would not be in a position to take the level of adjustment necessary in one year, or indeed two, without imposing far too great a hardship on our people which we would not contemplate. We have the agreement of the social partners on that timeframe.

He is dreaming.

Some of the most advanced and developed economies in the world are also suffering from this global recession. Germany's economy will contract by over 6% this year. The people know there is a context in which this is happening. The mandate we obtained in 2007 to provide government for this country until 2012 is one we wish to discharge.