Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

In reply to Deputy Bruton, the components of the growth are changing all the time. We have an issue with manufacturing industry about which we must be mindful, both in terms of international mobile investment which continues to be strong and in terms of the strategy Enterprise Ireland is undertaking in building more successes in the SME sector and in building bigger Irish companies. There is a strategic framework in place.

There is still a significant sector of our manufacturing industry which is low-paid, that is, between the minimum wage and the average industrial wage. There are a couple of hundred thousand people in the manufacturing sector from traditional industries which are with us since the 1970s and the 1980s, and much of our taxation policy has been geared towards trying to ensure that those industries are prolonged and remain with us for as long as possible. It points up the fact that there is no room for complacency. We all talk about building a knowledge economy. We must make sure that we take the necessary strategic decisions which enable that to happen to the greatest extent possible.

As I stated, there is no complacency on this side of the House in terms of the challenges that continue to face us. Among the public and some commentators, there is a view that the economy is on automatic pilot and it does not matter who is in here at all. The fact is we need a strong handle on the economic management of the country and we must watch for the competitiveness issues. One of the challenges of the social partnership process and dialogue into which we are entering this winter is to ensure that we focus on the need for more productivity in the exposed sectors to which Deputy Bruton referred so that we can generate the revenues to continue with the improvements in public services that we all desire.

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