Eamon Ryan (Dublin South, Green Party)

I wanted five, but I will try in that time to set out the plan as I see it.

The plan is to sell more to the rest of the world. We will sell food to the world. The food industry is worth €8 billion in exports and employs 167,000 people. Our comparative advantage is that our food comes from the field, not from the factory. Tourism is worth €5 billion. Our advantage in that area is that the industry is flexible; it has been fast to restore value and bring back a welcome. People will come back to our country because we are, ultimately, a welcoming people. Energy is currently a €6 billion import business, but we want our energy to be home-produced. We will do this through growth in renewable energy and advances in energy efficiency, and we in the Government are delivering on that. These are our home industries. Although they are not as big as our other three main industries, they are important because their value is increased in Ireland.

The other three industries are equally important. In financial services, 25,000 people are employed in the IFSC. It is an export business worth over €15 billion. Our comparative advantage is that we have good legal and tax systems and a new, improved regulatory system. On the service side, we export creative services worth about €47 billion. Within that, ICT is worth about €24 billion and supports 60,000 jobs. We are delivering a digital economy that works - a knowledge society. We are investing in broadband in our schools that will help us to deliver this. We are investing in the Exemplar network, which will provide high-speed Internet and for which we budgeted in difficult times. We have creative, flexible people, which means we are well placed to become a centre for cloud computing. This is the next big business opportunity and we need to grab it.

We also need to remain good at manufacturing. We are making about €80 million worth of products, much of which represents foreign direct investment. What is our strategy? It is to invest and increase the budget, even in difficult times - which we have done - for Science Foundation Ireland, because those companies are still coming here. Half of them came here in the last year to invest in research and development, which will turn into the manufacturing opportunities of the future.

Deputy Varadkar is nodding his head, but this is the reality. He does not see it because he spends all his time on that bench rather than going out and actually meeting those companies. They are doing it for this country. We continue to be a centre for foreign direct investment and high-tech manufacturing. It is working. The Deputy may not like it, but I am glad it is happening because it will help us get out of the economic difficulties we are in.

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