Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

Deputy Connaughton told me he has seen square balers in Galway for the first time in 25 years. However, such activity will not get us out of recession because it will last for only a few weeks. What will happen in September?

We must be realistic in terms of getting people back working. There are regulatory measures and interventions we can take. There is an element of educational snobbery in the notion that everything must be about the smart economy. We must get away from that fixation. There is the real economy out there and then there is the nonsense that goes on on the other side of this Chamber. We must have a meaningful debate next September in an effort to get this country back on its feet.

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