Michael Conaghan (Dublin South Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

People sometimes comment on what the Government and this Minister is doing as if we started in a very favourable position. Some commentators and Deputies tend to forget that the contextual framework of the economy had to be restructured, with a new floor put in and credibility established in order to attract foreign direct investment again. People seem to forget that this economy collapsed a very short time ago. In that context, a considerable amount has been achieved. Some of these criticisms are glib and there is the idea that we started on a very high wave of momentum, but we started in a trough and we have emerged from that in a very short space of time. It is a remarkable story and if Oscar awards were going for this area this country would be up there, like the actors in Hollywood the other night, claiming one of them. It is a remarkable performance and some of the Ministers are stars of it.

We have broadened the reach for exports, and the Tánaiste, Deputy Gilmore, has done much as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. People forgot he is responsible for trade and wondered what he was doing running around the world. He was getting the embassies to give out the message that this country is not a sinking ship and it would restore its credibility. He did that with the Minister who is here today.

We need to start to broaden the debate about where the economy can create new excitement, impetus, products and growth patterns. For example, I would like to hear more about cultural tourism, the creative economy, film-making, fashion, the social economy, music and the arts. We need to talk about these areas because exciting things are happening there too. We need to invite people to share that excitement with us. I keep mentioning Ballyfermot because the college there was in at the beginning of much of this excitement. It reinvented the animated movie industry and rock music from scratch. There are untold stories about taking something and growing it to a point where one cannot but notice it, and ask what went on there and what can we do to get more of it going on in other places.

Some years ago the Department of Agriculture decided, instead of exporting agricultural products on the hoof to transform them into smart dairy and meat products, which have entered new markets in India and China where emerging middle classes wanted such foods. That can be replicated for the fishing industry. By and large fish, is still exported raw. We need to take the imaginative leap on the western coast, particularly in Killybegs, the premier fishing port, to do for the fishing industry what was done for the agricultural produce industry. That was one of the most transformational decisions ever made in this country, in terms of what we have earned from exports and job creation. We need to explore all these angles and to invite people in to talk about them. Now that the floor is in, and is solid and sound, we can dance a bit harder on it and get more people to join in.