Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)

I do not have sufficient time to address this plan in any substantial way. Instead, I will address a local issue that arises from this plan and its predecessor. I am sure I will be accused of being parochial but I make no apology for that.

I make a plea to the Minister for Finance on behalf of the people of Carrick-on-Suir, which was absolutely abandoned in this and the previous plan. Some 890 people are unemployed in Carrick-on-Suir — an unemployment rate of25%, or six times the national average. The Minister's party has been in government for 18 of the past 20 years and this is simply not good enough. Despite the hundreds of billions of euro allocated under this and the last plan, 890 people are unemployed out of a total population of 5,000. This is unacceptable.

I ask the Minister to prioritise Carrick-on-Suir by creating a jobs task force that will help put some of these people back to work. They were annoyed recently when the Minister for Social and Family Affairs suggested that they should start signing on for training at an earlier date. These people are blue in the face from signing on for training. They want the Government to create employment for their town. We cannot allow the situation to continue where there is a rate of 25% unemployment in a small town like Carrick-on-Suir.

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