Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

It has. I will refer the Deputy to the study which has been published. The reason is clear. As we move towards a more efficient manufacturing environment and apply technologies more effectively we will experience a loss in numbers in employment but will have a more efficient and competitive enterprise that is sustainable in the long term. We should welcome that development.

Approximately 150,000 jobs were created in high-end manufacturing in the past six to seven years and approximately 40,000 jobs were created in the area of internationally traded services. By any international standard, that is an outstanding employment record. The Deputy is correct that the challenge we face is to sustain this level of creation in the coming decade. The international arena is clearly much more competitive now than was the case ten years ago. We are witnessing the rise of significant economic powers in different parts of the world and we must box clever and play to our strengths. We must add to those strengths via targeted investments on the part of the State and by creating a flexible and adaptive labour market that can respond to the challenges that are coming down the tracks.

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