The following is an edited version of the Taoiseach, Mr Ahern's address to the Fianna Fβil Ardfheis:
"As Uachtarβin Fianna Fβil, I am deeply grateful for the continuing confidence, enthusiasm and self-belief of this unique national organisation. I thank you for your presence, your support and your commitment. I would also like to warmly welcome those who are joining us from home.
Tonight, we proudly celebrate the 75th anniversary of our foundation. It has been 75 years of building our Republic; 75 years of ensuring that Ireland would take its rightful place among the nations of the earth; 75 years of creating a society that could provide jobs and a decent quality of life for all our people. Tonight, we celebrate the real and measurable progress of this Fianna Fβil-led Government, and we commit ourselves to continue the work of building peace, prosperity, and social justice.
The future of Ireland will be bright if Ireland chooses the path of endeavour, not the path of retreat, least resistance and negative politics. The future of Ireland will be safe and secure with Fianna Fβil in government.
We face into a world that is utterly changed since September 11th. Although terror is no stranger to our shores, the enormity of the disaster has been almost beyond comprehension.
We feel a special kinship with America and with New York - with firefighters and police, office workers and corporate leaders, many of whose parents, grandparents and ancestors came from this land and made the US the largest Irish nation on earth. The names on the casualty list of this terrorist attack include Boyle, Crowley, Collins, O'Hagan, McSweeney and O'Neill - our names, the names of our families and our friends, the names of our nation.
They include young people only very recently arrived from Ireland. Now they are gone. Our hearts and prayers go out to their families.
I also want to send our heartfelt sympathies to the members of the Irish Muslim community who lost so many innocent members of their faith, ordinary working people, on September 11th.
Ireland desires a world free from fear. We support the right of the US to self-defence in the face of this barbaric attack. We also know that military action alone will not be enough. Poverty and injustice must also be tackled.
We have given leadership in our commitment to reach the full UN aid target by 2007. The programmes we support carry on the proud tradition of our missionaries, our peacekeepers and our aid workers. As president of the Security Council at this critical time, we will give of our experience and wisdom to assist the deliberations of the nations of the world.
The special contribution we can make is to complete the healing on our own island - to see to it that never again will we endure the terrorism of the Omagh bomb, of the intimidation of children walking peacefully to school. We can prove that terrorism is not inevitable , that peace is not impossible.
As Taoiseach, I have the privilege of leading the most successful partnership government in the history of the State. I pay full tribute to the enormous contribution made by the Progressive Democrat leader, Mary Harney, and her colleagues. I also want to acknowledge the role of the four Independents supporting the Government.
Ireland's rapid gains have been admired round the world. On the day I became Taoiseach, unemployment was 10 per cent, now it is below 4 per cent. Now our challenge must be to sustain growth in more difficult times.
Dealing with the backlog of social and infrastructural problems is our priority, building a first-class transport system, a first-class education system and creating a health service we can all be proud of.
This Government succeeded in prolonging a strong boom into the most spectacular expansion in our history. Ten years ahead of expectation, we have begun to exceed average European living standards.
This Government has radically reduced the tax burden in a way that no alternative government would ever have done. Almost four out of 10 of all income earners are now exempt from tax.
All told, we have cut personal taxes by over £3 billion. Over the past 12 years, the standard rate of income tax has been reduced from 35 to 20 per cent and the top rate of tax from 58 to 42 per cent. All but one was carried out by Fianna Fβil ministers for finance.PAYE taxpayers were crucified by Fine Gael-Labour coalitions who gave only minimal relief, and that reluctantly. And no one should presume on greater social justice than was shown to pensioners, when the Rainbow Coalition fobbed them off with a rock-bottom £1.50 per week in their first Budget of 1995.
This year, the contributory pension has been increased by £10 per week. Our opponents do not understand that there is a right way and a wrong way to raise revenue.
Fianna Fβil encouraged enterprise to thrive and stopped penalising it. While we will continue to concentrate tax relief on the lower paid, our priority is to provide Ireland with first-class services and infrastructure. We will also ensure a fair deal for disadvantaged communities.
Successful government is not just about administering public policy. Political leadership is about mobilising the Irish people to respond to the challenges and opportunities of today. We have developed a process second to none for doing that in Ireland: the social partnership model that includes the community and voluntary sector.
Michael Noonan's 'big idea' is what he calls a 'social contract'. We have had social contracts with the Irish people since 1987, pioneered by Fianna Fβil and the trade union movement, in the face of fairly persistent opposition from Fine Gael.
The Partnership for Prosperity and Fairness is delivering jobs; sustainable and real income increases; reduction in the tax burden far beyond what was originally promised, and unprecedented spending increases on social inclusion.
This Government will use the institutions of social partnership to study new problems and forge new solutions, so that we can drive forward together.
Events in America have underlined the reliance every modern society has on the selfless dedication of its public servants. We too must know how to value that here in Ireland. No other country anywhere has performed so consistently, so well as Ireland over the past 10 years. We are no longer a poor and peripheral country of the EU. We are highly attractive to US investment because of our membership of the EU and of the single currency. We have shaken off a one-sided dependence on Britain.
Ireland is a beacon of hope for many a developing country. I have visited many applicant countries in central and eastern Europe. They have as much right as ourselves, when they are ready, to full EU membership. We will benefit from the consolidation of peace in Europe and an even larger internal market. We have nothing to fear and much to gain from enlargement.
We need to reflect on our future role and participation in Europe. I am certain a full place in the EU is fundamental to our prosperity and place in the world. Ireland must be at the centre of decision-making, not on the periphery. The Forum on Europe will consider the choices facing us in the short and medium-term. If Fine Gael chooses to be irrelevant to this debate, and to make a mockery of their claim to be a pro-European party, that is their choice.
Like every other country, we have our concerns. We are attached to our identity and sovereignty and to the conditions which have enabled us to achieve unprecedented economic success. We will fight our corner from within, not reject the entire European enterprise.
Fianna Fβil's vision is for an Ireland in which every community can prosper. Our strategy is for every part of our country. Fianna Fβil wants to spread growth through the regions. We negotiated continued Objective 1 status for the Border, midland and western regions. We will not allow poor infrastructure to be a deterrent to jobs. The regions need improved access through modern roads and a better rail service.
The National Development Plan is the first ever strategy for the radical transformation of our infrastructure. Our infrastructure has not kept pace with rapid economic growth. Implementation on time, according to plan, of the National Development Plan will change that. In the next 10-15 years we will develop, for our size, a road network as good as Germany's and a public transport system as good as any European capital.
Within the next three years, Luas will come into service. We will be setting up public-private partnerships to accelerate delivery and keep down costs. Co-operating with the North, we will extend and strengthen energy networks, bringing gas and a more reliable electricity supply to the west and north-west.
The same investment will be made in broadband communications. In technology, the global emphasis is shifting to the creation of content which can be pumped down the networks. The digital hub which we plan for Dublin will position Ireland to participate in that innovation.
Every successful country attracts migrants to its shores. We welcome all those who have come legally to work or study here. Whether as temporary residents or citizens, they will be accorded their full rights.We deplore racism and will conduct a vigorous education campaign against it over the next three years, starting later this month.
We pledged to cut crime, and we have. By last year, we had cut crime by 24 per cent. Ireland now has the lowest number of indictable offences since 1980. Much more remains to be done. Our streets must be made safe. We are increasing the presence of garda∅ and extending closed circuit TV cameras. We are carrying through our pledge to increase the number of garda∅ to 12,000.
The Criminal Assets Bureau, a Fianna Fβil initiative in opposition, is confiscating the rewards of organised crime. We have eased prison overcrowding by a very successful modern prison-building programme. The revolving door is finally closed.
There is no place in modern Irish society for physical force vigilantes, with their contempt for human rights. In this Republic, there is only one Army and one police service. They are out there putting their safety - and lives - on the line every day.
I am fulfilling my promise of giving the Irish people the final say on whether abortion should be legal in Ireland. We are at the same time providing a clear legal basis for medical treatment necessary to protect the life of an expectant mother and an effective support agency for those who face crisis pregnancies.
Governing is about tackling difficult and sensitive issues. It is not about running for cover. It is not possible to satisfy every viewpoint on this issue, but what we have set out to do is to create a consensus on how we can move forward. There is no simple sentence, short paragraph or formula which strikes the right balance, so we are asking the people to amend the Constitution to allow the Oireachtas to legislate on the matter.
The terms of the new law will be seen and approved by the people in advance. The amendment will also guarantee that any future change to that legislation must be approved by the people in referendum. We have made our proposal; we have explained it and we will continue to do so.
All we ask is that people approach the debate with an open mind, discuss the proposal in a calm and reasoned way, and then decide for themselves.
I am proud to say this is a Government for our children, the first Irish Government with a comprehensive strategy for children, the first Irish Government to address the full range of issues affecting at-risk children. We followed this with the announcement of dramatic increases in child benefit payments. We will shortly publish a plan to ensure that every Irish child has access to decent play and recreation facilities. We will implement further substantial measures to help parents access high-quality affordable childers and to provide a more family-friendly environment in the workplace.
We will also publish proposals to tackle and finally bring to an end child poverty.
Our spending on education is higher proportionately than in any other EU country and supports nearly 1 million people in full-time education in Ireland today.
Over the last few years, class sizes have been reduced to their lowest ever level. A new focus on literacy and helping children from disadvantaged backgrounds to stay in school is being delivered. We are completing the largest ever programme to modernise educational facilities. We are hiring 2,500 new teachers and have introduced major new funding to help provide extra resources for teachers.
The cost of housing places an unacceptable burden on young people seeking to find a home of their own. We made the first-time buyer our priority. The Government has intervened in the market to increase the supply of housing, with a record 50,000 new homes built in 2000. Prices are slowing down to a more affordable level. We are also examining ways of bringing down rents.
There is one other area where we have made a bold start, but we still have great challenges ahead. That is health. The amount of taxpayers' money going into the health service has doubled since 1997. There are over 4,000 extra health professionals working in the system and 1,700 more nurses than there were in 1997.
We have also delivered the first ever major investment programme in disability care services and are implementing national strategies to tackle two of our biggest killers, heart disease and cancer.
Our public health system is a basic public service. It must meet the needs of all our people. We are putting in place the foundations for a further dramatic improvement in our health system. Under-investment has been replaced by sustained public investment.
A series of essential reports are being drawn up on key issues such as the training and career structures of health professionals, the capacity of our hospitals, and the effective use of funding.
The final step in this process will be seen later this year, when we complete the most comprehensive health strategy document to be published in decades. We will deliver the blueprint and the funding for a world-class, accessible and equitable health service. We will fulfil the responsibility of the State, that the less well-off in our society receive the same prompt care as those who can afford to pay for it.
We have no interest in going back to an equality of hardship, depression or stagnation. Those who talk about rich and poor, as if those were the only two classes, do no justice to Ireland's achievements as a society. We have enabled the great majority of people to achieve a better standard of living and real equality of opportunity. We have raised the retirement pension for older people to over £100 a week as promised.
Alone of European countries, we have established a substantial pension fund to provide for the future, so that younger people today can know that the State will be able to pay their pensions when they retire.
The foot-and-mouth crisis has reminded us all of the vital place of agriculture and the food industry in Irish life and in the economy. I would like to thank everyone for their community spirit. It has helped to keep out foot-and-mouth, despite the cost and inconvenience, especially to sport, recreation and tourism.
Farm families have a Government committed to do all in its power, to support them both at home and in the EU and to maintain their future viability.
Fianna Fβil remains deeply committed to integrity in politics, notwithstanding individual lapses. The highest standards are rightly demanded of Fianna Fβil, because we are central to the political life of this nation. This Government is the first to be subject to new tough ethical rules and to freedom of information. Fianna Fβil and the Government, under my leadership, have shown our absolute determination to clean up politics and remove any demonstrable abuse that could diminish the reputation of our democracy or cloud our achievements.
Our most important political work in Government has been the work for a just and lasting peace in Northern Ireland. The implementation of the Good Friday agreement has been slow and difficult. The institutions have shown that they can work well, if given the chance.
I am confident a new and widely acceptable police service will now be established in line with the Patten report that deserves full nationalist support, with the SDLP courageously leading the way. I am equally confident the time is approaching when arms will finally be put beyond use, to allow the continued operation of inclusive democratic institutions.
We are the first generation in many hundreds of years to have achieved a peace settlement embracing all the main traditions in Ireland. The Northern Executive has contained ministers across the political spectrum. The importance of North-South co-operation is growing.
Any future constitutional change will occur only in accordance with the terms of the Good Friday agreement. No actions by small splinter groups will ever alter that. It is time for all shades of Irish republicanism to accept publicly that unity will only come about by free democratic persuasion and agreement, never by force.
For a long time, the system of government in Northern Ireland and the exercise of power was unjust, undemocratic and oppressive to nationalists. But today, there is a new way forward, endorsed by the people North and South, capable of bringing about justice and equality for all. I am very glad that, after the disgraceful scenes in the Ardoyne, the British government intends to make sectarian harassment an offence.
Our most urgent task is to strengthen the accommodation and co-operation between our two main traditions on this island. This party has worked better than anyone before with Ulster unionism.
The issue of political legitimacy, for the future at least, because the past cannot be altered, has been settled by the Good Friday agreement. We will work with the new Northern Ireland, not against it. Indeed, there would be nothing to prevent the new institutions with their strong safeguards for both communities from continuing, even in the event of agreed constitutional change.
Ireland is an environmentally friendly country of stunning beauty. In the past, we had little money to spend. We did not face the development pressures of today. Fianna Fβil is taking on the environmental challenges of improving air and water quality, waste management and climate change, and applying the resources that will restore many natural amenities to the people. The best should not be the enemy of the good. The needs of people and of natural preservation must be brought together in harmony, and that is our approach.
Fianna Fβil is committed to the promotion of excellence in the arts and providing popular access to them. Magnificent heritage work is being done by D·chas and the Office of Public Works. Both sport and the arts are also infinitely better funded than they were just four years ago. We are making unprecedented improvements to community sports facilities.
But this country's keenest competitors and sports teams are entitled to have world-class sporting facilities here in Ireland without having to go abroad. Sport has never had the political engagement at the highest level that I am glad to say it has now.
I look forward keenly, among other things, to the completion of the redeveloped Croke Park, the National Stadium and the 50-metre swimming pools.
Aithn∅onn gach Θinne an pβirt lβrnach a ghlacann an Ghaeilge in βr bhfΘini·lacht nβisi·nta sa t∅r seo. Tβ a lβn scΘimeanna β riaradh ag mo rialtas chun bunstrucht·r na Gaeltachta a fheabhs· agus chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn.
Mar shampla: tβ an Rialtas i mbun an iarracht is m≤ f≤s a rinneadh le h-infrastruct·ir ceart a thabhairt don Ghaeltacht agus do na hoileβin; tβ dul chun cinn dΘanta chun Bille na Gaeilge a foolish agus a ACTU i with trimness an Rialtais seo a chinnt∅odh cearta lucht na Gaeilge sa t∅r go lΘir; tβ Coimisi·n don Ghaeilge sa Ghaeltacht bunaithe chun scr·d· a dhΘanamh ar na beala∅ leis an nGaeilge a lβidri· sa nGaeltacht.
Foilseofar an Tuarascβil roimh deireadh trΘimhse an Rialtais agus cuirfear faoi bhrβid an Rialtais Θ agus tβ Foras na Gaeilge bunaithe faoin gComhaont· Trasteorann a chuideoidh le gach gnΘ den Ghaeilge ar fud na h╔ireann uile.
Ina theannta sin, molaim an obair iontach atβ ar si·l ar son na teanga ag Raidi≤ na Gaeltachta, TG4, na heagrais chult·rtha agus lucht labhartha na Gaeilge uile. Tugann an obair sin d≤chas agus misneach dom gur fΘidir linn beatha ·r a chur sa Ghaeilge agus ∅ a leathn· mar theanga bheo sa t∅r seo sa todhcha∅.
Fianna Fβil's contract with the Irish people was for five years. We are honouring our contract in full. We intend to stay at our job - the job the people gave us - to the end. Then and only then will we ask the people for their verdict.
Our people look for competent and confident political leadership. This Government has the experience, has the competence, has the confidence needed in a crisis.
We will know what to do. We will not falter.We will seek a new mandate. For now, go back to work and finish the job with pride, with enthusiasm and with great belief for the future.
Not only Fianna Fβil but the people of Ireland have a destiny to fulfil."