Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I asked the Minister about the difference in forecast between the Minister and the Taoiseach. The Taoiseach's forecast was half a point below the Minister's when he spoke recently to the Dublin Chamber of Commerce. Bearing in mind the steepest declines in tax revenues since the early 1990s, the highest increases in unemployment since the 1980s and the fact that we are now facing a budget deficit, does the Minister have any proposals to address this, particularly the 26,000 additional people who will become unemployed? Most of them will be men losing jobs in the construction industry or from long-term employment in factories and traditional industries in areas throughout the country. There will be between 600 and 700 job losses in Arnotts in Dublin, for example. During the election campaign the Minister said he would keep the boom going, but the boom is gone. Does the Minister have any strategies for addressing the fall-out for people now facing unemployment?

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