Taoiseach: Too many still struggling

“While we have made much progress there are too many people who don’t have jobs, too many men and women who are struggling to make ends meet.

“In framing this budget our goal is to copperfasten that recovery and to make sure that people see that recovery, not in the headlines but in the lives they live from day to day.”

Mr Kenny said the Government was not blind to the serious risks still facing the country.

“Progress is very hard won and can be easily lost,” he warned.

But he said he was optimistic about the future and wanted to reassure people around the country who “are fragile and live on the edge” that they too will see the recovery.

Defending the Budget, Mr Kenny said it allows Ireland to now look beyond existential survival and towards rebuilding the country.

He said the tax reforms will create 15,000 jobs.

“All taxpayers will be better off after this Budget, and the reduction we have delivered to the universal social charge designed to make sure work pays for those on lower income,” he said.

Mr Kenny said 410,000 people on low incomes would be better off under his Fine Gael/Labour coalition than the last government.

The Taoiseach also noted international reaction to the phasing out of the so-called Double Irish tax arrangement which allowed multinationals to save billions in tax by locating here.

Echoing remarks from finance minister Michael Noonan, he stood by the 12.5% corporate tax rate – which itself has drawn some international criticism – and said the rate would make Ireland even more attractive as a base as global pressure builds to shut down tax avoidance strategies.

Mr Kenny said a reduction in the deficit – to 2.7% of gross domestic product by next year – which goes beyond targets would act as a buffer to allow for any unexpected developments.