Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

I asked what the Taoiseach has done, in the ten or 11 weeks since this Dáil last met, to find jobs for the 45,000 people who have lost their employment. What new initiatives has the Government taken in that period? I received a long answer that suggested the Government will carry on with FÁS and with its approach to the public finances. A case of "as you were". It is clear from the Taoiseach's reply that the answer to my question is that the Government has not taken a single new initiative, in the ten or 11 weeks since the Dáil rose, to address the problem of people losing their jobs. Some 45,000 people have lost jobs in places such as Cappoquin, Tipperary, Tullamore, Cork and all over the country. People are losing jobs and in the ten or 11 weeks since this Dáil last met the Taoiseach and Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment have not taken a single new initiative. I have not heard the public announcement by the Government of a new initiative anywhere to help people who have lost their employment find new jobs. I asked the Taoiseach a simple, straightforward question this morning. Did I miss the announcement of something in the newspapers in the past ten or 11 weeks? Has there been a new initiative? Has a new mandate been given to the IDA or the job creation agencies? Has a new initiative been taken by the Government to find employment for the 45,000 people who have lost their jobs since the Taoiseach took office? The clear answer is that the Government has not done a single thing to find employment for people who have lost their jobs.

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