Noel Grealish (Galway West, Progressive Democrats)

The low unemployment rate exists despite the welcome presence in Ireland of thousands of foreign people working on job permits and more than 100,000 PPS numbers being issued to citizens of the EU accession states. Is this the hallmark of a regime of weak regulation and poor enforcement of workers' rights? Nearly 2 million people are now working in our economy. The initiative was taken by the Tánaiste when she was in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. Since then, by means of the policies of the Progressive Democrats and our partners in Government, Fianna Fáil, more than 500,00 new jobs have been created. Take-home pay for the average industrial earner has increased by more than €11,000 since 1997. That is an increase of 80%.

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