This is an edited version of the "state of the nation" speech delivered by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and broadcast to the Irish people on the evening of Sunday, Dec. 4.
Tonight I'm taking the opportunity to speak to you directly on the challenge we face as a community, as an economy, and as a country. I know this is an exceptional event. But we live in exceptional times. And we face an exceptional challenge.
It is important that you know the truth of the scale of that challenge, and how we are addressing it.
That challenge (is) to restore our economy, to create the environment to sustain jobs, and to look after the most vulnerable people in our society.
At the end of last year, our economy was in deep crisis. And while steps to recover from the crisis have been taken we remain in crisis today. I would love to tell you tonight that our economic problems are solved, that the worst is over.
But, for far too many of you, that is simply not the truth.
Let me say this to you all: you are not responsible for the crisis. My government is determined that now, the necessary decisions and changes are made to ensure that this is never allowed to happen again.
Right now, our most important responsibility is to do what must be done to get our economy back on its feet.
That requires fixing the enormous deficit in our public finances caused by too much borrowing and the cost of rescuing the banks.
We all know that if, in our own lives, we are spending more than we are earning. Right now, the State is spending €16 billion a year more than it is taking in. This problem will not be fixed unless we take action to bridge this gap.
This can only be done by us, ourselves. Working together. That means that in this budget we must cut public spending by €2.2 billion and raise €1.6 billion in extra taxes.
When we were elected, the Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore and I, pledged that our government of Fine Gael and the Labour Party, would fix this deficit in a way that would get Ireland working. We began by taking urgent steps to stem the crisis and close that gap in our public finances. We are shutting down dysfunctional banks and we have recapitalized the remaining ones at a lower cost than expected, by imposing losses on some bond holders.
We implemented a jobs initiative that cut taxes on tourism and employment, and that created over 20,000 new job and training placements. We secured a lower rate of interest on the country's borrowings that will save us €10 billion over time. We have met our commitments to the EU and IMF in full, and on time.
This has been acknowledged worldwide, and has helped restore some international confidence in Ireland. But the steps the government has taken merely reflect your courage, your character, and your sense of responsibility, for which I thank you.
While none of this has ended the crisis, and we have not so far been in a position to do everything we promised, we have made a start. We have begun to stabilize our finances. The improved confidence has helped strengthen exports, a key driver of future success.
But we have a long way to go. This week, we will introduce a budget that will build on those first steps towards recovery. This budget will be tough - it has to be. It will move us towards a manageable deficit of three percent of our GDP by 2015. But getting the deficit under control is just a means to an end. The main purpose of this budget, and of our four year strategy, is the creation of jobs for our people.
We won't be able to create jobs overnight. It will take time. But, by 2015, I want to see our deficit under control and real growth in jobs. We are not able to do all we would like to in this budget because we simply can't afford to. But this budget will be a jobs budget in two ways, firstly, by putting our public finances back onto a sound footing. As our deficit moves to sustainable levels, investors will start regaining their confidence in Ireland and credit will be made available at better rates.
To make sure we keep as many jobs as we can, to make sure you get to bring home as much as you can, and to make sure you know where you stand with your wages, to give you some certainty for the year ahead, we're leaving income tax untouched.
Instead, we will raise the 1.6 billion of extra taxes mainly through indirect taxes, difficult though these will be. The highest priority is to create more jobs, but we will also do all we can to protect the most vulnerable in our communities: our children, the sick, and the elderly.
I wish I could tell you that the budget won't impact on every citizen in need, but I can't.
Before asking families to make sacrifices, we also insisted on sacrifices from those at the top. Next year, we will hold a referendum to abolish the Seanad. But these steps are just a start. We will reform how we run the country so that we never return to the practices that drove our economy into freefall - reckless spending, weak oversight of banks, and reliance on a property boom for tax revenues.
In Ireland, an island nation, we cannot operate in isolation. We are part of the European Union. All the changes we undertake ourselves are set against the backdrop of continuing uncertainty about the future of the European single currency.
Let me be clear. Ireland supports stronger economic governance throughout Europe, and particularly in the eurozone. In fact, the Irish people are paying the price now for the absence of such rules in the past.
European leaders must make and - more importantly this time must implement - clear decisions this week to prove our shared determination to protect our currency. Otherwise, international confidence and investment in Europe will continue to fall.
In the ongoing negotiations in Europe, I will work to achieve a positive outcome for Ireland, one that ensures and protects our economic security.
Firm action will help to restore confidence throughout Europe, and here in Ireland. In outlining the government's strategy with you tonight, I do not for a moment want to make it sound simplistic or painless. It is not. We are on a four year path to recovery. This, our first budget, is a necessary step, but it will include cuts to many worthwhile projects.
It will also raise some indirect taxes which will be hard for many people. The truth is, our economy remains fragile, and it will take us several years to recover fully. While the creation of jobs will be at the center of our plan, I am painfully aware this will not happen quickly enough for many who are out of work today.
It will take several years to create the numbers of new jobs we need. But over the last months we have made a start towards more jobs, more opportunities, towards renewed confidence. A start towards a country where our young people can stay at home to build their future here, rather than moving away. A start in essence toward getting Ireland working again.
That's the commitment the Tánaiste and I made to you when you elected us. And that is the commitment we are working to deliver each and every day. We have begun taking hold of these problems and deal with them head on.
I am very optimistic for the future. I want to be the taoiseach who retrieves Ireland's economic sovereignty, and who leads a government that will help our country succeed. I want to make this the best small country in the world in which to do business, in which to raise a family, and in which to grow old with dignity and respect.
All around Ireland, I meet people who want to play their part in achieving those goals. I meet young people, students and business people who are full of ideas, energy and optimism. I want to enable them, and many others, to achieve their full potential.
I believe government, being honest and open, working with the people, will meet and beat the challenges we face. Next Tuesday, December 6th, is the 90th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty in 1921.
Just as our fledgling state made its way to becoming a Republic then, I believe with all my heart, that we the Irish people can now make our way to recovery, to prosperity and to the fulfillment of the dreams of our children and the founding fathers of our nation.
