Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

Somebody seems to have been dusting down speeches and mantras from five years ago on behalf of the Government. We heard all about the potential impact of global economic downturns after 11 September 2001. We are told, once again, that such global turbulence is responsible for the current downturn in our economy. Yet, when the situation improves, shrewd Government management will be credited.

In his Budget Statement last December, the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance acknowledged that we should expect more modest growth. He stated:

Against this background, my Department is forecasting that GDP will increase by 3% in real terms, 24,000 new jobs will be created with the total number at work increasing by a little over 1% and unemployment at 5.5% by the end of next year, inflation will ease and the harmonised index of consumer prices will average 2.4%.

Inflation currently stands at 4.8%. Anybody who predicted last December that inflation growth would be 2.4% must have intended to remove everything from the consumer price index. It was unrealistic then and it is even more unrealistic now. We have had predictions that unemployment will rise to 6% by the end of the year. If up-to-date figures were available, they would probably show it already at 5.5%.

I recently put down a parliamentary question to the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources on the roll-out of broadband. The bog standard response to queries about broadband provision is that it is a matter primarily for the private sector. The Minister tells us he is sorry but the decision was taken before he came to office. It is clear that the Government's commitment on broadband provision has been abandoned. This problem is widespread, in towns and rural areas, and there is no workable and realisable national broadband plan. It is critical that this infrastructure deficit be addressed immediately. It is a problem the Government cannot ignore.

I speak now with my food hat on. Significant and laudable effort is being put into promoting renewable energy. I would be pleased if as much effort were put into building jobs in food related employment. We must get serious about this natural resource instead of allowing it go down the swanny. At this morning's meeting of the Joint Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, representatives of the fishing industry told us that from the aquaculture point of view, 80% of the fish being landed is exported for processing before being brought back in. This is madness. Why can we not address such simple issues? Tourism is another natural resource. Nothing need be imported to enhance this resource but we are allowing the industry to become uncompetitive.

I was glad to see the Minister in my constituency in January when he said that Arklow was to be a priority location. The unemployment figure for Arklow in February rose by 20% purely on the basis of the loss of Allergen, the largest remaining employer. A taskforce similar to those established elsewhere in the State must be put in place. In Greystones, an 80-acre IDA site has been lying idle for some 20 years because the policy has been to secure one major employer. Smaller employers who were interested in coming in have been turned away. It is better to have a range of smaller employers so that the impact is not as great if one goes out of business.

I was asked in an interview on RTE last Wednesday week about the St. Patrick's Day access available to Ministers and representatives of the Government abroad. I hope each and every one of them, particularly the Minister, Deputy Martin, was listening to what was being said about why we are not getting the jobs, why jobs are leaving and why this country is not as attractive as it was ten or 15 years ago, when we were ahead of the game. We need to get ahead of the game again.

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