I call Deputy Ross. Could we all settle down for a while and give Deputy Ross a chance?

Hear, hear.

Are Members being charged for this?

I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I think Deputy Adams would be best served in sending his budget submission to Brussels or Berlin instead of sending it to Merrion Street.

It is Labour's way.

Today, middle Ireland is waking up with a feeling of foreboding. It is well aware that a draconian budget has been written elsewhere. Property owners, pensioners and people with mortgages they cannot pay are converting their anger into fear. This fear is not simply of what the Government is doing to them but of what is happening in Brussels and Berlin. They fear the property tax and they fear child benefit being cut.

They fear big Phil.

Moreover, they fear that those who have been victims of the banks will now become victims of the Governments whose banks have imposed this austerity upon them. Members can discuss the property tax, because it has been announced by the Government many times. The blow of that tax is not softened by the leaks coming from the Government benches. In particular, I refer to the kind of obfuscation when Members are presented with the fact that there will be a mansion tax. That does not soften the blow-----

I did not think Deputy Ross would like that.

----- for those people who will be obliged to pay large sums on small properties as a result of property tax. What the Government has succeeded in doing is highly dangerous. By allowing European and foreign forces to write this budget, it is creating an unlikely coalition of the unwilling and those who are unable to pay in Ireland today.

Thank you Deputy.

Moreover, the blow is not softened by the fact-----

This is a speech. Where is the question?

It is not softened by the fact that in view of the fact-----

Can the Deputy think of a question?

If Deputies do not mind, I will look after the chairing of the session. When Deputy Ross is ready, he should put the question please.

He is an angry man.

In view of the fact that last Monday, the Government and the French and German Finance Ministers closed the door-----

Thank you Deputy.

----- to any Greek deal for Ireland, would the Taoiseach consider taking the fight about this budget to Brussels, to Berlin and to Paris? Would he consider getting a bank deal first and producing a budget second?

Hear, hear.

The answer to that question is "No". I thought Deputy Ross was one of the four angry men going around the country.

That is how he lost his voice.

I am not sure how well the show was going-----

They got a full house and were sold out wherever they went.

Sorry, Deputies.

I wish him the best of luck with it. The Deputy is well aware that the position of Greece is very different to that of this country. We have a particular request, which is what I referred to when replying to Deputy Adams.

The Taoiseach should demand, not ask.

The Government is in discussion and negotiations with the European Central Back about the question of the promissory notes. As has been outlined by the Minister for Finance, the next payment is due in March 2013 and the Government does not wish to be obliged to pay that. At the other end of this issue, I note the European finance Ministers yesterday did not reach agreement on putting in place the legal framework for the banking union and its supervisory capacity and that a further meeting has been scheduled for next week. Deputy Ross is well aware that one cannot have these discussions unless one has a legal framework in which they take place. I hope this can be achieved before the end of the year at the meeting to be held next week. As I outlined yesterday, the Greek situation is different than that of Ireland. We will exit our programme in 2013 and the Government is in discussions with the troika about what might be appropriate in respect of the nature of that exit. Greece will still be attempting to get its debt-to-GDP ratio down to 124% by 2024, whereas Ireland will exit its programme next year. In itself, this will add an attractiveness to this country as a location for continued investment and job creation. However, what the Government would regard as being fundamentally helpful to Ireland, and what it is in discussions on and pursuing with the European Central Bank, as well as at European Council level, is the question of sustainability arising from the bank debts that were put on the backs of the taxpayers. The Government continues to deal with that in a serious manner.

The point I was trying to make is that middle Ireland now sees that on one side are the Government, the Department of Finance and others in positions of great power here, allied with Mrs. Merkel and other powerful European nations and European banks, while on the other side are the people of Ireland, who will be obliged to suffer this austerity budget today. I acknowledge the sums will add up at the end of the day but people are not going to be able to pay some of the taxes the Government intends to impose. A new situation is being entered into, in that the property tax will not be paid by some people because they will not be able to pay it. There are people with mortgages who cannot pay their mortgages and they will not be able to pay an additional tax on the debts they already owe.

What is the Deputy's suggestion?

What will the Taoiseach do? There has already been a strike in respect of the household charge. What will the Government do if the people decide this is a bridge too far-----

Bring in the sheriff.

----- and that they will resist the taxes - through poverty and not through unwillingness - as a result of what the Government has done and what it intends to do today?

We have set out our position. The requirement of the programme that we, as a country, are in requires that a property tax be introduced. The Minister for Finance will give the details of that today in his budgetary contribution. We are one of the last countries in Europe not to have a property tax, and we want this to be as fair and equitable, and it should be seen as progressive.

For God's sake.

The alternative is to increase income tax and put taxes on work.

The Government is doing that anyway.

That is not the direction in which we want to go. Some 20,000 new jobs were created in the past 12 months in the private sector.

How many were lost?

There has been net loss of employment since the Government took office.

There are signs of confidence, as I have noted, in the economy.

What is the number of jobs in the economy?

They are by no means the be all and end all but the fact is that Bank of Ireland was able to raise €1 billion without a guarantee and AIB is also out raising money without the State guarantee. There is also the case of the ESB and Bord Gáis, as well as the sale of licences to three major telecommunications companies. One of the rating companies has also put the country on an improved rating. These are signs of importance.

The live register for November will be 2,895 lower than the October level and 12,290 lower than the November 2011 total.

The people are all gone. They have emigrated.

Less than half of the fall is attributable to increases in the numbers on the Tús and JobBridge scheme over the past 12 months. The figure is 7,500 lower than the November 2010 total. The seasonally adjusted total is down 1,500 to 432,000. That is much too high but the rate is down to 14.6%.

The figures for jobs in the economy are decreasing. They were down 5,800 in the last quarter, 8,000 in a previous quarter and 40,000 in the 12 months to last June.

We are beginning to go in the right direction and we want to build on that with today's budget. The property tax to be outlined by the Minister for Finance today will be of benefit to the people in the localities who will pay it. It is progressive and it will be fair. There are arrangements, as will be outlined by the Minister, for those who find themselves in particular circumstances.

Middle Ireland has risen to this challenge. We must get through the challenging period ahead and beyond that there will be an opportunity to grow our economy, continue to attract investment and provide for opportunities for our young people to have work in this country.