Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I thank the Minister for that reply. Does the Minister agree that last week was a bit of a train wreck for the Irish economy in terms of billions knocked off the value of Irish shares, particularly Irish pension funds? We have had a string of job loss announcements, including the most recent one in Wicklow, of several hundred jobs over the next year and a half. Every financial forecast since the general election and on through the budget is slightly worse than the previous one. Does the Tánaiste have figures for his expectation of housing output, including starts and completed houses, this year? Does he expect it to fall as low as 30,000 units? What will be the impact of this on tax receipts and revenue? What plans does the Tánaiste have, if we achieve the growth of 3% he suggests, to assist those who face court in respect of mortgage repayments and those who, having worked in the construction industry for ten years, now find it difficult to find employment? Does the Tánaiste have plans to give a fresh start at work to people whose experience is in the construction industry?

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