Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)

I am pleased to have an opportunity to say a few words on this very important motion.

Unemployment is at a seven year high, at 5.2%. Transport infrastructure and broadband are at a disastrous state of development. No matter where one goes — any village, in any constituency, right across the country — broadband availability is an issue.

The unemployment figures for four towns in Tipperary are stark. In Cahir, unemployment is up by 14%, in Carrick-on-Suir, by 11.7%, in Cashel, by 18.4% and in Clonmel, by an incredible 31.4% . The motion makes specific reference to the closure of one industry in Clonmel, namely Merriott Radiators, a company that has been in the town for many years.

These figures are incredible but we have heard speaker after speaker defending the actions of the Government. Everyone knows that oil prices can rise and we cannot do very much about that. However, there are areas on which the Government certainly can take action and the provision of broadband is one. We should hang our heads in shame at what is happening with regard to broadband in this country. Local service charges are also increasing every year. Small businesses in this State are finding that local service charges, which are increasing much faster than the rate of inflation, are putting pressure on their operations.

I wish to refer back to Merriott Radiators in Clonmel. That company transferred its operations to Wales. Why did that happen? It is shameful that the company which had a good and committed workforce who gave it more than 30 years of service, would simply leave and go across the water to another State. Surely there is something wrong in a country that allows that to happen and something amiss with a Government that does not stand up, examine itself and examine its policies in the face of such events.

Last week in Clonmel, Marlbrook Hotels, which had huge plans to build a golf course, hotel and housing, has put its plans on ice because of the current economic climate. It is afraid to expand and develop and has put all of its ambitious plans on hold. At the same time, the Government sits and says that everything is fine but it is not living in the real world. I beg the Minister of State, Deputy McGuinness, who knows South Tipperary, to examine what is happening there in the next number of months.

Last week the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Mary Coughlan, visited Tipperary Co-Op, one of the finest companies in the country. It is a top of the range cheese production facility. It is an excellent facility but where are the producers gone? The farmers who produce the milk are all gone from the land. Five miles down the road from the co-op, Rockwell Agricultural College has closed because there are no young people on the land of Ireland. Tipperary Co-Op is a fabulous facility. We have been told that demand for food is rising and markets for cheese are opening up all the time. People all over the world are anxious to buy Irish food but where are the producers to produce it?

I ask the Government to stop in its tracks, to think carefully, examine what is happening outside Dublin and acknowledge that there is unemployment in the country.

An advance factory opened in Tipperary town but for seven years there has not been one ministerial visit or IDA promotion of that facility. It is disgraceful. The Government should hang its head in shame at what it is doing to Tipperary, the premier county. I urge the Minister of State to come and help us out. He is not living very far away and I know he understands the way we think and the fact that we want to get on and deal with this important issue.

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