Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

The previous Government will be remembered for bankrupting the State and burdening the population with debt to the tune of €80,000 per household. As a result, Fianna Fáil should remain politically toxic for a generation. Each of the Labour Party and Fine Gael Party's Deputies should now consider their legacy to the State.

The Government is sleepwalking the State into default. The memorandum will be seen by future generations as the blueprint of this default. The anger and bitterness the people of Ireland have for Fianna Fáil will in no small measure also land at the Government's doorstep if it continues with this. I want to echo the comments of my colleague, Deputy Doherty, that there is another way. We are here because choices are available to us.

The key to growth is job creation. Growth cannot happen without investment. The multiplier works both ways. To be able to pay for the running of the State we need to reduce debt to manageable levels, and this cannot happen without proper burden sharing. We also need to implement efficiencies, but we need to invest in the economy. In the current climate, the private sector cannot come to the rescue with regard to investment. Export growth, while it is key, will remain job-neutral in the foreseeable future.

The choice we urge the Government to take is to invest in the State's economy, reduce costs to businesses, restructure the enterprise development organisations so they are fit for purpose and resource small and medium-sized businesses so they can export. At present, there is no export programme for businesses in the State with fewer than ten employees. There are ad hoc programmes run by a number of county enterprise boards throughout the State but there is no programme. The Government speaks about an export-led recovery but surely we can gather the low-hanging fruit by enabling these small businesses to develop in this export area.

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