On this, the last day that the Taoiseach will be answering questions here before September, at the earliest, he has told us that the Government has three economic objectives, to improve competitiveness, to sort out the banks and to restore order to the public finances. Before we rise on Friday and the Dáil breaks for the summer I want to know what that means. The public is entitled to know what each of those objectives means.

I have seen no evidence of anything that Government has done to improve competitiveness. All I have seen is the reverse. Increasing VAT for example, has worsened competitiveness for Irish business. Three months ago the Government told us that its strategy for restoring the banks was to establish the National Asset Management Agency, NAMA. We do not have the legislation to do that, we do not have a precise date for its introduction and when Deputy Burton asked the Taoiseach for a timetable for the NAMA process he was at best vague about it yesterday. Before the Government puts the Dáil into recess for the summer we need to see the NAMA legislation, have it published and, if necessary, address it in the House.

The Taoiseach has told us that the recommendations of the McCarthy report will put order on the public finances. We have not seen the report. We have been told only that Mr. McCarthy was to report before the end of June. That did not happen. With each passing week as we came closer to the recess the submissions of the report has drifted until it is clear that the Government's intention is to receive it after the Dáil goes into recess, or certainly after we have had an opportunity to question the Taoiseach and Ministers about it here, and selectively leak its contents in a softening up exercise during the summer. I want to see the report before we break for the summer.

Will the NAMA legislation be published before the House rises for the summer? Will the McCarthy report be published before then? If the Taoiseach cannot assure us that will be done before Friday will he assure us that the House will continue in session until both of those essential pieces of information are put into the public domain and we know where we stand on the Taoiseach's strategy for the economy before the Dáil goes into recess for the summer?

We have outlined our strategy in our supplementary budget. We set out our budgetary position for the course of 2009. We indicated at the beginning of this year that all spending programmes would be reviewed and we employed some people to help with that. They are bringing forward their recommendations. The Minister for Finance expects to have that report this week. It is not envisaged that we would act on that report on its receipt, it is part of the budgetary process for 2010. The Minister made it clear in the supplementary budget announcement for 2009 that the adjustments for 2009 have been made in respect of the budget introduced last October and the supplementary budget introduced last April. That was the case at all times.

We will now begin Estimates and preparation for the 2010 budget starting from adoption of a budgetary strategy after mid-year. That work will continue throughout the autumn. There will be plenty of opportunity in the next session for Deputies to discuss all aspects of expenditure policy in a range of areas. The Government will make the decisions on the precise areas of savings, which are necessary, unavoidable, which will not be in any way painless but which must be made in the interest of correcting the public finances and having a prospect of growing the economy as quickly as possible. We know from recent economic history that deferral of that sort of decision under previous Administrations at certain times——

Under the Taoiseach's Administration.

——greatly prolonged the period within which Ireland will be able to come back into growth and create jobs again. Those are the facts.

The Minister indicated at all times that he hopes to have the NAMA legislation prepared by July. I believe that timetable will be met. It will be published after the Government has approved it. There will be ample time for everyone to study it. We will come back here in mid-September and have the opportunity to debate and enact the legislation, which is essential and must be enacted.