Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

However, they can give preference to our workers.

As for construction, an enormous amount of development is taking place in major capital projects in the non-residential sector. We must ensure that this can be sustained. As I noted at the outset, productivity becomes essential when international markets experience a downturn. We must ensure that in 2008 and 2009, as we have done many times previously, we get the best value for the resources we invest. We must achieve high levels of productivity with an excellent workforce that provides good flexibility. This will see us through a period during which the economy is still growing by 3%, which is greater than in most OECD countries, and will enable us to achieve stronger growth in the medium term.

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