Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

While I am not sure about everyone in the House, I am happy to accept the will of the people.

I cut my political teeth in the early 1980s, when Tallaght had the population of a city but the status of a village. We were waiting on many facilities and had a considerable need for jobs. The Get Tallaght Working group was set up by a number of us in 1984 and is relevant to this subject. For this reason I will not stand on the Fianna Fáil backbenches and state that I am happy with a situation in which workers are being jailed.

In my experiences in the community and going about my business in Tallaght, I fought to make the point that, as large projects came on stream, local labour should be recognised and local jobs created. A number of workers informed me that, while they lived in Tallaght, if the above ideal came about, they would lose their jobs in Dún Laoghaire, Finglas, Blanchardstown and elsewhere. However, my point was reasonable.

The Minister of State has taken the opportunity to clarify where the Government stands on social partnership. At times in the House there is criticism of social partnership but where would we be without it? I will not lay out the line about how much progress we have made, our tremendous economy or the jobs being created. It is positive that, in all our constituencies, people are working and young people have hope.

I listened carefully to the Minister of State's comments. In fairness to him, he addressed many of the points made by members of the Opposition. This debate will continue for some time and more points will be made tomorrow. I have no difficulty in supporting the Minister of State in making the case for workers' rights. Let us not create a situation in which unemployment becomes an issue again. Successive Governments have dealt with unemployment and job creation should continue to be a part of the national agenda. We can each make a case for our respective communities. I am never afraid to make a case for Dublin South-West and will continue to do so. I thank my colleagues for their courtesy.

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