merrion street

On her retirement as Leader of the Labour Party, I thank Joan Burton for her work in government over the past five years, both as Tánaiste and as Minister for Social Protection.
During this time, she and her ministerial colleagues in the Labour Party played a major role in rescuing the Irish economy, which was on the brink of collapse when we entered government in 2011. Many of the tough decisions that had to be taken to turn the country around were unpopular and politically difficult but Joan Burton and her colleagues were steadfast in doing what was right for the country.
In her role as minister, Joan Burton spearheaded many of the welfare reforms that helped the last government to surpass our job creation targets to the point where the unemployment rate has been reduced from over 15% to 8.4%.
I would like to wish Joan Burton, her husband Pat and family every success and happiness in the future.