Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick East, Labour)

I commend my colleague, Deputy Joan Burton, for tabling this motion and giving us the opportunity to debate the economy at this crucial time, particularly in light of the information we have been getting on a downturn in the economy in recent years and in light of the fact we have a new Taoiseach.

Sadly, despite what Deputy Kelly stated earlier, that one third of all the houses in Ireland were built since 1997, we heard on the news tonight there has been a 25% drop in new mortgages over the past year. Clearly, those good times in the construction industry have come to a sharp end, without any kind of planning on how we might deal with this. One minute we are up and the next we are down.

There does not appear to have been any concern whatsoever for the construction workers whose jobs are at stake. My office, as the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will be aware, is in the Mechanics Institute in Limerick, a building owned by construction unions. I talk to the people coming in and out of that building and there is a real fear for jobs in the construction industry. I am sure this relates not just to my constituency but throughout the country. As I stated, there does not appear to have been any planning for this or any attempt to address the real needs of these workers and the fact they have families who depend on them.

The same is not true of the developers who have made big bucks in the construction industry. In many cases there has not even been monitoring of the tax breaks they were given. I will cite two examples. There is a student accommodation unit close to where I live which was built on tax incentives for student accommodation and as far as I can see, there is not a single student living in it. They got the tax breaks for student accommodation and they are letting it out to workers. Similarly, I know people who deliver child care who have not benefited by any reduction in their costs from the tax breaks for child care. Those tax breaks have gone to the people who developed the buildings, not to the people to delivered the service. There has not even been monitoring of the kind of tax breaks that were available.

In the short time available, I want to refer to the way in which we should be developing tax breaks. Tax breaks should be used to provide incentive to those who offer opportunities to develop small indigenous industries. I particularly refer, for example, to campus-based companies. There are many campus-based companies in ITs and universities. Generally, they lack capital but they have plenty of ideas, in the IT area and in many other inventive areas. There should be tax breaks for such companies rather than for people making vast sums of money in the construction industry. Energy saving construction areas should also enjoy tax breaks.

My colleague, Deputy Michael D. Higgins, last night spoke of republicanism and patriotism. We should be asking our rich people to put their money into such indigenous small industries rather than into making money for themselves. Now that they cannot make it in the construction industry here at home they are turning their attention to Spain, eastern Europe and other places to make the fast buck. We should have leadership from the top — from Government — encouraging people to invest their money here in Ireland where we can expect to have growth rather than just spend it in ways to enrich themselves as opposed to their community and society.

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