I intend to serve a full term as Taoiseach.

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.

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

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.

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

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

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.

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

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 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.

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.

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?

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.

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

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

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.

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

Emigration is always a difficulty.

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.

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

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

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.

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

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.