Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I thank the Labour Party for the opportunity to address this important issue, especially when we are facing a downturn in the economy. I agree entirely with Deputy Penrose. I have personally seen the IDA hosting prospective foreign direct investors in the lap of luxury. I could hardly lift the big long-stem wine glasses provided, not to mind drink from them. There is a stark contrast between the approach by the IDA to those investors and the treatment of indigenous entrepreneurs who have to go through a myriad of offices to find out what is available to them. Indigenous industry remains the backbone of our economy, in spite of the occasional love affair with FDI. Like the previous speaker, I am not opposed to FDI and I wish we could have some in every village. However, those companies do not stay here and they do not have the same commitment to our economy as the indigenous person. The small operations across this island remain the backbone of the economy. Those people will not be flying to the cheaper labour economies in eastern Europe or Asia. They will stay here to drive this economy and it is very important that we look after them.

There is no proper infrastructure to facilitate those people. The links between here and the west of Ireland are pathetic. Broadband is not just an issue for places like the west. In my constituency, parts of places like the Cooley Peninsula, Kilkerley and Hackballscross do not have access to broadband. Crossmaglen, a rural village just three miles down the road, has perfect access to broadband. Why is that? It is because this Government privatised Eircom and has hampered the rollout of broadband across this State. It has hampered the development of this economy to anything like its potential. That is to be regretted. The current Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources has taken a €10 million sum away from the roll-out of broadband and diverted it elsewhere. There is a dubious question mark over what the Minister has done with that money.

Education is key to what we must do in the future. For some considerable time we have argued for three and a half hours of preschool for the year before a child goes into education. The Government has not taken that up, although it has taken up some of our other suggestions. The sooner it takes this one up the better. There are key issues on the third and fourth levels that must be addressed.

There is no denying that this State has made remarkable economic progress over the past 15 years. That progress has been marred by the fact that the hard work that brought about such a successful competitive economy has not in all cases been fairly rewarded. While business generally has reaped the benefits, many workers remain low paid and without essentials such as child care and proper pension plans. That is an ongoing problem and we are aware of the dangers of the social insurance fund. This is still not being addressed. Perhaps the Minister for Finance will improve on some of that tomorrow when he has the opportunity to do so.

We have failed to use our successful economy for the benefit of society as a whole. We have one of the highest child poverty rates in Europe and the income disparity between our least well off and our best has widened almost beyond repair. Nevertheless, we still have the opportunity to use our economy to the advantage of all. To do that, we must ensure it continues to grow. We all agree on that but we disagree on how we should go about it. I have significant reservations on the Government's approach to that. While Ireland still ranks among the most competitive economies globally, our competitiveness rankings have fallen since 2000, as the motion says, by 17 places, and that is worrying. There are myriad reasons for this, including increases in consumption and investment rather than strong export growth, the slow-down in Irish productivity growth, particularly in high-tech sectors, the contribution of net exports to economic growth being small or negative in recent years and the high reliance on the construction sector for employment. Since 2000, 65% of new jobs have been created in public services and construction. Manufacturing and agriculture lost jobs over the same period. These are worrying trends. Improving competitiveness will not be easy. It will depend on key decisions in areas such as regulation, finance and social capital and physical and knowledge infrastructure.

My party has long argued that ending the partition of our country will contribute to the building of a strong, competitive economy. Much of the business community, North and South, is behind us in this demand. The Border has only ever served to harm our ability to compete internationally. We have duplicate government and public service structures, unnecessary administrative burden onthose wishing to do business in both jurisdictions and two currencies. We are competing with ourselves for economic investment. A nascent all-Ireland economy already exists. We need the Government in this State to step up its engagement in joint planning in a number of areas, including energy, communications, tourism, transport, environment, education and health, in other words the "common chapter" as agreed by the all-Ireland ministerial council. Some Departments have been energetic on this but more is needed from others.

Ireland's physical infrastructure North and South remains a source of acute competitive disadvantage. Successive Governments over the boom years have failed to introduce the infrastructure needed to attract foreign direct investment and enhance domestic business as well as ordinary people's lives. It took this State decades to finally begin building the third lane on the M50. We pay the highest rates for broadband, which is the slowest in Europe. Our house prices have pushed more and more workers away from cities and have added to personal debt as well as traffic congestion and commuting problems. In transport, energy, information and communication technology, Ireland's infrastructure lags well behind those of comparable countries in the OECD.

We have a knowledge deficit. Participation in pre-primary education in Ireland is well below the European average. Several budgets ago Sinn Féin proposed the introduction of free preschooling to go towards solving both the child care crisis and beginning the process of lifelong learning from an early age. We must also deal with the fact that many of our children don't make it through secondary school and the fact that our illiteracy levels are outrageously high for a First World country. We must examine why none of Ireland's third and fourth level institutions are ranked among the best in the world. The use of ICT also remains relatively poor in Irish education.

Our approach to research and development is a concern for Sinn Féin. While we have made belated strides in this regard, employment and expenditure on research and development remains well below leading comparable countries in both higher education and enterprise. Sinn Féin wants an all-Ireland research and development strategy, co-ordinated through the enterprise development agencies, central and local government, business, trade unions and educational institutions, including a programme of extra assistance to SMEs and new businesses to develop new research and development business plans. We must examine how we use our human resources to build competitiveness. The lack of affordable and accessible child care is hindering our labour force by dragging people away from the workplace and keeping large numbers of predominantly women out of the workforce. Sinn Féin's policies on child care are on record, but as I stated, the introduction of preschool places is a priority. We also need employers to take up their responsibilities and provide child care facilities in the workplace. This is a crucial step.

A large section of Sinn Féin's budget proposal focuses on the issue of welfare to work. There is a group of people who are ready, willing and able to work, but they are caught in poverty and welfare traps. We suggest an overhaul of the social welfare system to accommodate people returning to work and that the State's training bodies such as FÁS lift their game in offering upskilling.

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