Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy Conaghan. The truth is that Irish enterprise and Irish workers have shown remarkable resilience in the face of difficult circumstances. We have seen them finding new markets, going further afield, applying innovation and applying more lean processes to become globally competitive. They have been extraordinarily successful in this regard. We have yet to see the confirmed Enterprise Ireland expert numbers but it appears they have performed exceptionally well in 2014, certainly beyond wildest expectations. With their backs to the wall, people have shown fantastic ingenuity.

Another encouraging aspect is that we are beginning to see start-ups on a far wider scale. It is heartening to see the growth in the numbers of people starting their own business. Moreover, the indication is that the number of people who would consider starting their own business is even higher or at least showing greater growth. There seems to be a good climate here.

The challenge for all of us is to ensure that the policy regimes sustain these changes. This good growth has not happened by accident. We have moved mountains across all Departments, not only ours, to consider the skills base, the tax mix as well as the things we do in the areas of health, education, the environment and infrastructure to make it easier. These policies must be sustained. We need to be competitive in the long term if we are to achieve sustainable full employment.

Twice in a generation I have seen a situation where the country has had within its grasp the capability of becoming a full employment economy on a sustainable basis. However, we lost the run of ourselves and committed to unsustainable policies that simply fell flat on their face. Significant damage was done. One of the things we need to learn is that policy matters. The type of sustained policies we have been trying to put in place are important for the long term for this economy as well as for our capacity to provide employment for people who genuinely want to stay here. Perhaps this does not apply to everyone. Some people will want to travel. However, we need to be able to get back to a position where anyone who wishes it can choose to work in this economy, and we are on the way. Unemployment and emigration are coming down, but we need to sustain the approach.