Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I support Senator Cummins's call for the Waterford to Rosslare railway line to be kept open. Waterford is a gateway city in the national spatial strategy, while Rosslare is a Europort, a gateway to mainland Europe. It is a crazy and retrograde step to close off a lifeline from the rest of Europe into the heart of Ireland such as the Rosslare to Waterford railway line. One constantly hears the Green Party and others talk about sustainable transport. We must find ways to keep the railways sustainable. One way is to take freight off the roads and carry it on the railways. I ask the Deputy Leader to use his good offices to ensure this railway line is not closed.

I support the calls for a debate on small and medium enterprises. I have regularly spoken in the House of the need to acknowledge the great work taking place in the manufacturing sector. We cannot afford to give up on manufacturing. Many small traditional and indigenous manufacturing businesses are exporting their products to far-away lands and must be supported. Competitiveness is an issue and overheads are a huge challenge for manufacturing. I ask the Deputy Leader to allocate time for a debate on manufacturing, the role of State agencies in supporting such businesses and the role of the colleges in co-ordinating research and helping them to find new markets. It is very important, particularly in this recession, that we do not have an over-dependence on the multinationals, as we have learned from our experience of Pfizer, Teva Pharmaceuticals and other companies closing with large-scale redundancies. We must focus on and support the smaller manufacturing companies. A good start would be having a debate on the matter in this House.