We have delivered an ambitious, yet balanced and sustainable series of measures The Budget also showed a serious commitment to supporting those most in need in our society, writes Taoiseach Bertie Ahern
I have never accepted the idea that a government has to choose between economic and social goals. That you can be "pro-business" or "pro-welfare" but not both.
The simple fact is that encouraging enterprise, rewarding work, investing in public services and supporting those most in need are not competing goals. I believe they can and should be seen as fully interlinked.
This approach doesn't pass the "vision-test" of those who yearn for ideological clarity, but it is central to the progress which our country has achieved in the last 10 years.
A major reason why we have a strong Budget balance today is that we were willing to take tough decisions when they were needed and ensured that Ireland came through the worst international recession in 20 years stronger than nearly all other European countries.
The same sort of responsible approach is why we are providing for keeping the public finances in surplus next year.
This approach means that the tax cuts and spending increases which we have announced can be sustained in the event of more difficult economic conditions.
Last week's Budget delivered an ambitious, yet balanced and sustainable series of measures which will benefit our economy as well as people throughout our society.
The Budget showed a serious commitment to supporting those most in need in our society.
In every year of my administration we have gone well beyond the increases provided by our predecessors and critics. We have now achieved, and in many cases exceeded, what were tough targets for welfare payments set in 2002.
The new increases in pensions is the latest record in a sustained series which marked a dramatic departure from the policy we inherited.
Increasing pensions has been a consistent priority of ours and I am very proud of this.
Greater equity for female pensioners by moving to transform the current qualified adult allowance into a full State pension is part of our commitment to those to whom our society owes so much.
In this Budget, we have also completed the transition to substantially better income support for the most vulnerable by increasing the lowest social welfare rates by an unprecedented €20 per week.
This means that these lowest rates have increased by over €50 a week in the last three budgets, confirming that people with the least are seeing the largest percentage increases in income.
Substantial improvements in maternity benefit, the carers' allowance and many other schemes are all part of a Budget which ensures that Ireland's economic success benefits all groups.
I'm also very proud of the fact that we have succeeded in ending the situation where the tax system actively undermined work.
In 2007 all workers, most particularly those on low and middle incomes, will again keep more of their earnings. All workers earning the minimum wage (which we introduced and which is one of Europe's highest) will be out of the tax net and all workers on the average industrial wage will not be liable for the higher rate.
While others will, no doubt, continue in their efforts to misrepresent these figures, the simple fact is that we have delivered significant and sustained tax reductions benefiting all groups and we have done this in the face of consistent opposition.
If you want to have money to invest in public services you have to support enterprise.
As well as consolidating major changes made in previous years, the Budget supported enterprise through a series of measures, especially for the SME sector which employs over 850,000 people. Cutting regulatory burdens, increasing access to capital and encouraging research and development represent more than technical changes.
They are important parts of helping Irish business to compete and continue to increase the number of good paying jobs.
While many of the announcements were made in the context of the spending estimates published last month, the Budget provided the detail for a substantial programme of developing our public services and infrastructure.
At the heart of our public services are our public servants. It is nurses, doctors, teachers, gardaí, civil servants and many other professionals who make up a substantial and absolutely necessary part of the spending provided for in the Budget.
Next year there will be more teachers in our classrooms, more nurses on our wards and more gardaí on our streets as well as other professionals working hard to deliver to the public a level and quality of service which they rightly expect.
Having seen 30 years of growth in less than 10, there are many pressures which have to be addressed.
We have to accelerate the delivery of projects which are central to the economic and social life of our country.
The Budget ensures that funding is there for improving transport, building new health facilities, refurbishing schools, creating community resources and many other much needed developments.
Over the last 10 years our country has made extraordinary progress. This progress was not achieved by adherence to some ideology of the left or right.
It came from a combination of the hard work of the Irish people and a Government committed to sustainable progress, not soundbites and empty posturing.
The Budget, taken together with the spending estimates and different plans which we have published, confirms our commitment to making sure that Ireland's economic success is protected and that all sections of our society benefit, not just today but in the years ahead.