The next budget will deliver important social improvements, but not all demands can be met, writes Séamus Brennan.
In recent years Ireland has seen genuinely historic progress on issues that were once presented as insoluble. The end of mass unemployment and emigration didn't happen by chance; it was through the hard work and enterprise of the Irish people and a government working with them.
A key part of this has been a commitment to responsible budget policies. Significant investments have been implemented in public services, but equally taxes have been reduced and Ireland has continued to have one of the strongest budget balances in Europe.
This approach has, for example, ensured the delivery of an unprecedented series of improvements in pensions, while also reducing our national debt to a level where we now pay fully €1 billion per year less in interest repayments than in 1997. This is money available to build and sustain public services.
However, we are aware that nothing can be taken for granted. Just as there was nothing inevitable about the success achieved in our country - so too there is nothing inevitable about success in the future.
Recent detailed analyses of the budget situation have been very welcome, particularly because they confirm that the Irish economy is likely to continue to grow strongly in the next few years. The extraordinary growth levels of previous years will not be repeated, but growth will be significant and our economy will continue as one of the best performing in the developed world.
This growth will provide resources for further investments in public services. There will be increases because they are needed. But equally they will come nowhere near a level that would pose a threat to long-term economic stability.
As Brian Cowen has said consistently, the protection and promotion of economic success will be at the very heart of Budget 2007. This means it will not be possible to meet many demands for extra spending on very worthwhile areas. We will continue to increase funding for social services and meet our promises, but this will clearly not be at a level required to satisfy everyone.
The budget published in December will take an approach which is sustainable and focused on the long term. The same approach will continue to be reflected in other major initiatives.
The recently published Strategy for Science, Technology and Innovation is a good example of this. If we are to be successful in the industries of tomorrow we have to invest in research. The direct benefit of this will mostly be felt well into the future and will be seen in the maintenance of high-quality employment opportunities.
We will also be publishing a new National Development Plan that will set out the details of a seven-year programme to develop our economic and social infrastructure. Once again, the primary focus is on the long-term future of our country.
The budget will certainly deliver important immediate improvements in social provision, but it will be in placing priority on initiatives that Ireland's success in the years ahead will be secured.
In contrast to the constructive debate promoted by economic commentators, the Opposition parties have simply been playing games.
Hand in hand with ongoing and escalating demands for extra spending, they are now demanding that we hold spending down. It would appear that every time we announce something it is to be attacked as an election gimmick and every time we don't announce something we are to be attacked as out of touch.
There were even times recently when Opposition spokespeople have called on us to spend more, charge less and improve the budget balance in the same speech.
This is a deliberate and highly cynical policy. Enda Kenny once said in the Dáil: "One of the beauties of being in Opposition is that one can promise everything but deliver nothing." This is clearly still his view.
In the Labour Party's statement on the ESRI quarterly report, Ruairí Quinn even went as far as attacking levels of spending in 2002. What is truly incredible about this is that the entire premise of his 2002 election campaign was that we were refusing to spend enough.
Since then the Labour Party has consistently attacked us for running budget surpluses and, as recently as four weeks ago, stated that there should be immediate and significant increases in social spending.
It's not just that the self-described "ready to govern" alternative has a deficit on agreed policies - it doesn't have a single agreed costed policy covering all or most of even one of the 15 government departments.
It has now been more than four years since either Labour or Fine Gael published a detailed alternative budget. This allows them to avoid taking any decisions at all and, most fundamentally, denies the Irish people the right to an honest debate between alternatives. Pat Rabbitte says taxes will stay as they are, but also says that education, health and welfare are underresourced and will receive significantly more.
They say they will save a huge amount on waste, but refuse to specify how much and which programmes will be cut.
We believe that the Irish people have a right to a serious debate between political parties, but you can't have a debate if only one side has a detailed position and is willing to be accountable for it.
Unfortunately, there are those who believe that the only challenge remaining is how to spend it all. Enda Kenny even went as far recently as to attack the Taoiseach for "banging on about the economy".
Well, we don't agree that the economy can be taken for granted and therefore we will continue with the work of making the choices involved in running a responsible economic policy.
Séamus Brennan is Minister for Social and Family Affairs