Lenihan insists downturn will be short-lived
FINANCE Minister Brian Lenihan has insisted the economy will bounce back from its current downturn within three years.
Sensible and effective government policies should ensure that any slowdown is short-lived and reversed by 2010, Mr Lenihan told Chamber of Commerce representatives in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan on Saturday night.
He said the current economic environment was the "most challenging for some time" and the consensus among economic commentators is that the pace of economic growth will slow to 1.5pc or possibly lower.
The Minister's optimistic comments followed his striking statement last Friday that the building boom has come to a "shuddering end".
But on Saturday, he said: "At this stage, the number of new houses built this year will be close to half of last year's level, a remarkable turnaround over a short period of time. The building boom we have just emerged from was unsustainable and I have no doubt that the house building sector will bounce back but to a much more sustainable level," he said.
In his address to the Chamber of Commerce, Mr Lenihan stressed that there was no danger of it returning to a 1980s-type economic climate.
"Our job in government is to continue to invest in projects that will enhance our competitiveness; to implement sustainable, sensible fiscal policies and to ensure that we retain a flexible environment. If we follow this course of action, the economy will be in a position to bounce back when the temporary negative factors fade."
- Aine Kerr and Patsy McArdle
