Billy Timmins (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

It was before I was born. We are a young party. In 1985, when the then Fine Gael-Labour Government came forward with the Anglo-Irish Agreement, what did the main Opposition party do? Its central spokesperson in the United States of America undermined the agreement. This is how interested Fianna Fáil was in dealing with conflict.

I will speak about the IDA manufacturing jobs, many of which we have lost in recent years. It is regrettable to see various factories closing down but it is an economic fact of life as we become a more prosperous society that manufacturing jobs will decline. A recent statistic indicated approximately 70% of American workers in 1820 were involved in agriculture while there is only 2% today. Who said America is not a wealthy country? The challenge for us is to examine how we approach the our problem of progress in this area. It is time for the IDA to amend its function of trying to attract manufacturing jobs to this country. We must evolve along the value added chain.

The enterprise strategy group raised the matter of encouraging small to medium enterprises. While a certain amount has been done in this country, it is not enough. Something is given on one hand and taken away on the other. I know it is difficult for the Minister of State to stay today after what he spouted for the past ten minutes. I would have been gone long ago were I in his shoes.

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