We have spent our time in government fixing the economy.

Conservation is important... water comes at a cost.

The re-establishment of a hard border on the island of Ireland would be a step backwards and present an opportunity for others, with malign agendas, to exploit for destructive purposes.

Building on our strong track record of supporting developing countries, including in areas like climate justice, human rights, gender and education, Ireland recognises that vulnerable communities need very considerable assistance in adapting to climate change.

If people want to follow an illusion that you don't have to pay your way, you don't have to measure up, then there are serious consequences for any country.

The Constitution says that the right to life of the unborn is protected and given equal rights as the life of the mother.

Respectability in this country was a bad word because people did things who were in respected professions that let down the entire nation, and we're washing away their sins yet.

I have never had an interest in opinion polls. They are merely an indicator, that's all.

No politician in a European sense is happy with 26 million people unemployed. Nobody can be happy with 6 to 9 million young people unemployed. You have to give them hope and confidence and a sense of inspiration that the European process is actually about people, not about bureaucracy.

One of the key drivers of Ireland's future is our balance of trade surplus.

You see, in government, people give you a mandate, and you've got to fulfil that. Ours is very clear. Fix our public finances and get our country working.

Irish people are pragmatic. They understand that nobody is going to fix our problems but ourselves.

The best recording is the one you bring with you in your mind.

My job is to rectify the public finances and hand the country back to the people so they can really have a future, and that is what I will do.

Emigration is always a difficulty.

You have a responsibility as a locally elected deputy, but you also have a responsibility as the head of government.

You're not going to be able to deliver jobs locally unless you sort out the nation's problems, and that's why the big and difficult decisions about Ireland's economy have been so crucial and so difficult for people to have to accept and have to deal with, but the reality is the people gave this government an unprecedented mandate.

We have a very long legal system with the European Union, and we're English speaking.

Ireland cannot become the collector general for the world. We can only tax on profits generated in the country here.

The world has changed utterly. There was a time when you couldn't marry a Protestant. There was a time when you got married that the women had to give up their job in the public service, and when they got married, they were owned by their husbands. That's all changed.

If somebody says, 'I am a gay person, and I want to get married,' is their own family going to deny them that? Are our own fellow citizens going to deny them that?

I've often said it: that it is seen to be a place of energy, of excitement, of enthusiasm. That there's something about Ireland.

I think - whether it's music, literature, sport, art, whatever you want - there's nobody who can stop us if we only apply ourselves with the singular objective of being the best in the world.

Rather than just saying, like, 'Your economy is the be all and end all,' I go back to my three roots that I've often said about this being best country for business, the best to raise a family in, and the best to grow old in with a sense of dignity and respect.

I am a big believer in Springsteen, I like his social comment; I like the commitment he puts into his work.

I enjoy his concerts and OK, maybe - I can't sing, I can't dance, I can't play the guitar, but I am going to go a long way if I keep following Springsteen.

Under no circumstances will I allow the Fianna Fail party back into government. They wrecked the economy twice.

I think 'austerity' is a much abused word. I prefer to call it 'fiscal discipline' or financial, 'financial competency.'

We've got enormous potential, phenomenal potential on our doorstep, which requires politics that makes that work, and that's what we try to show here in Ireland: that while there's a lot of pain, the reward at the end of this is career opportunities, prosperity, and brighter days for everybody.

People put dates on any kind of comment that you make.

If you were to do it again, you'd probably do some things differently. But the decision is right to have a single entity manage the water and the waste water for a country.

I intend to serve a full term as Taoiseach.

I would never accuse the Irish people of being in any way stupid.

I just think that the older you get, the more you appreciate the responsibility of politics.

I don't like to see people on trolleys in hospitals; I don't like to see old people sitting in chairs for hours.

I have no interest in the trappings of power.

There will be no hard border from Dundalk to Derry in the context of it being a European border, and by that I mean customs posts every mile along the road.

What I do like is action, achievements, and results. Getting things done.

My job starts at a quarter to seven in the morning, and you go right through until whatever time is necessary to finish up.

You need to talk to people, and you need to hear what it is they have to say.

In Ireland here, the Revenue Commission have always been completely independent of the state since 1923, and they are quite adamant and quite clear that there was no preferential treatment and no special deals, no sweetheart deals, and that Apple paid the taxes that were due on their profits generated here in this country.

By 2007, an uncompetitive, bloated, over-borrowed and distorted Irish economy had been left at the mercy of subsequent international events without the safeguards, institutions, and mindset needed to survive and prosper as a small open economy inside the euro area.

I have never been on the trail of developers or contractors.

I didn't go on a campaign of developers asking, 'Please give me money.'

I now know what to do; I know how decisions can be made. I know how you can drive ministers and their departments to actually make decisions and bring results.

We'll look after our hospitals. We'll look after our schools. We'll look after our infrastructure.

We'll look after the people who create jobs and business and give them that opportunity to grow in the time ahead.

To me, the real opinion polls are the tangible facts: the growing creation of jobs, the number of planning permissions, the number of commercial vans being sold - the signs that the Irish people are regaining confidence.

Populist promises to reverse every tough decision are nothing but empty rhetoric, irresponsible leadership, and bad politics. They are not the solution to Ireland's problems.

Sometimes in politics, you get a wallop in the electoral process.