Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to discuss the current developments in the economy. I welcome the initiatives announced yesterday, but these are only part of the solution and there are other actions that we can take that do not necessarily involve expenditure reviews. It is important to remember that the fundamentals of this economy are still very strong. The foundations that have been put in place since 1987 have ensured that we will survive this downturn in a much better way than if those decisions had not been taken and if the various investments made by this Government over the past ten years had not been made.

We can look at a number of areas. First, the era of restrictive tendering should be done away with in the current environment. A large number of perfectly qualified and competent contractors are not able to tender for Government contracts due to the size of their turnover and other restrictions. That is not helping competition and is not helping to keep prices down. I ask that the Minister examine the issue with a view to restricting it. Second, the PPP mechanism has worked well so far, and I would encourage that further large scale capital projects be investigated, particularly the area of schools. Schools are a solid investment and we should ensure that we continue to invest in our people. By investing in proper school facilities through the PPP mechanism, we will assist that process.

One of the opportunities of this downturn lies in the small business sector. Small businesses will hopefully get the access to cash and the support they need to weather the storm, while those who have been made redundant can open up their own business. We need to tackle the issue of red tape and reduce its burden as much as possible. That could be done in a cost-neutral way, and it would encourage a lot more people to move into that sector. Our county enterprise boards need greater support, and I hope that they would be immune from any adjustments that are being made to budgets. These boards drive investment and job creation.

It is important to state that the boom was not wasted, as is the chief cry of some people. There has been enormous investment in capital projects and in welfare payments to parents and families. We now have one of the most generous welfare systems in Europe. There has also been a major investment in road and sports infrastructure, as outlined by the Minister a few minutes ago. Such investment is continuing. The Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources announced the new national broadband programme, while the rural development programme will begin to roll out in September, ensuring the continuation of the successful Leader programme.

The only happy people at the moment are economists, who can tell us they got it right after ten years. They spent ten years predicting that this would happen, and ten years later they can finally say that they got it right. These commentators have a responsibility to protect confidence in the economy, to protect consumer confidence, and to provide a rational and fair analysis of the situation. They should not be predicting Armageddon on every occasion they comment. I have confidence in the ability of our Taoiseach, in the ability of our Minister for Finance and the Cabinet to deal with this issue. They will need the full support of the House in dealing with it, and that support will be provided by this party. It is not completely within our control to deal with some of the issues that are affecting the situation, particularly the international element. However, if we support the decisions taken now, we will survive.

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