Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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We do at this time. There is borrowing capacity at this time but we cannot assume that it will be available forever. That is why we have to make sure we make the right decisions, that we focus on the recovery of our economy as well as maintaining and improving public services and that we try to bring about greater employment. The current rate of unemployment is 15% but the imposition of level 3 restrictions has real implications too. We are seeing a very strong export performance in the pharmaceutical sector and in internationally traded services such as IT and so on, but it is evident to all of us that parts of the domestic economy are struggling. We all know the devastating impact of the virus on the hospitality industry, in particular on aviation and to a lesser extent on construction. Hospitality is a jobs-rich area in normal times . We need to grapple with and manage our way through this virus as best we can and, hopefully, get to a point where we can rebuild employment and bring our unemployment levels down.