Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael)

I welcome the opportunity to contribute on the Technical Group's important debate on unemployment levels. I respect the views of every Deputy, as every view is worth consideration, but we must propose realistic solutions.

I will correct the motion's flawed wording. For example, it names Waterford companies. While they have suffered job losses, not all of them have closed, which is contrary to what is stated in the motion. Waterford Iron Foundry is now Waterford Stanley and employs 120 people in the city. There is a great deal of spin-off employment in the various stores it supplies. My brother lost his job at Teva Pharmaceuticals last January, but it continues to employ 415 people in the city. The motion refers to the company as being closed. Despite the more than 200 redundancies at GlaxoSmithKline in Dungarvan, it still employs 570 people and maintains a presence in the constituency. While there have been a number of job losses in those companies, they have restructured. It is important that the Government does everything within its power to ensure that the remaining jobs are protected. Job protection is now as important as job creation.

The motion contains flaws. I am also disappointed by the small number of constructive proposals it contains. A negative motion, it offers no solutions to unemployment and takes cheap shots at the national internship scheme and the jobs initiative, which are getting people off the live register and returning young people to employment where they can gain experience that will stand to them and keep them in the workplace for the near future.

There is no magic solution to the problems we face. We must be realistic, accept that the country is on its knees and put our shoulders to the wheel to ensure it can recover and get back on its feet. The Government has inherited an economic mess. The legacy of Fianna Fáil Governments sees Ireland with unprecedented levels of indebtedness, a property bubble propagated by reckless policies, an unregulated banking sector and the erosion of competitiveness by unsustainable policies. Consequently, our international reputation has been destroyed. One of the first actions by the Government upon taking office was to get out there internationally to try to restore our reputation. We are beginning to see positive results.

In the mid to late 1990s when Fine Gael and the Labour Party were last in government, we were creating 1,000 jobs per week. We need to revert to the fundamental policies of job creation, sustainable employment and competitiveness. Unless we do so, nothing good will come of rewinding the clock two or three years to a false economy dependent on people selling properties to one another. Our economy has an annual deficit of €19 billion. We have a job to do and will do it with a social conscience to lessen the impact as much as possible. However, we need to balance our books and prove to international investors that we can do so. We need to regain control of our finances.

Last week, I attended an event at Merck Sharp & Dohme. It has made an additional €100 million investment in research and development. I was told by its general manager that, of the five pharmaceuticals it was developing globally, three were being developed between Clonmel, Waterford and Ballydine. Two were for insomnia and the third was for diabetes. Research and development is the type of sustainable employment that we need to encourage.

Recently, Bausch & Lomb invested more than €100 million in its plant in Waterford city. Genzyme, a pharmaceutical company employing more than 500 people, is celebrating ten years in the city and will invest more than €125 million in its expansion. Boston Scientific in the south east employs 575 people and is making an investment of €26 million.

Many Members of the Technical Group proposed in their election manifestos to raise corporation tax rates. If we did so, we could not sustain these levels of employment in large companies in the south east. We would drive many of those companies and jobs out of the country. Our proposals need to be realistic.

I welcome the attendance of the Minister of State, Deputy Perry. Small and medium-sized enterprises, supporting enterprises, research and development, innovation and indigenous industries, the potential of the agrifood sector and food sciences and exporting our expertise in these areas can be exploited to the full. We do not need to return to where we were two or three years ago. We need to return to where we were in the mid to late 1990s when we were creating sustainable jobs on a weekly basis and when our economy's fundamentals were sound.

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