John McGuinness (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail)

Fine Gael Members failed to acknowledge the role of the SME sector and how fast it is expanding. Men and women get up in their thousands every day to make decisions on job creation and investment. Air-Con Group Ltd. is a typical example. In spite of what Fine Gael says, that company's managers would not base their decisions on the party's analysis. Their glass is half full, not half empty, and they decided on the basis of how the Government is developing policies to sustain job creation and investment to invest in their own business. Thousands of similar companies make that choice every day. They are investing to create employment and they take risks we, in this House, do not have to take.

The Government must give consideration to job losses, the issues involved and the new challenges. It is ridiculous for every Opposition Member to say globalisation, energy costs, job movement, offshoring and downsizing are only affecting Ireland. We must create and implement policies to give us the edge in job creation and investment. Fine Gael has forgotten that.

See this speech in context