Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I have heard, during this debate, the opening statements of many speakers mention that we are in the midst of an international crisis. The global downturn has been cited as the reason for this economy suffering so badly at the moment. It is true that we are in the midst of an international crisis but that crisis did not exist last year or the year before. In 2006 the Exchequer had a €2 billion surplus but by 2007 that had become a €1.6 billion deficit and this demonstrates how much of this downturn or recession is of the Government's making.

People in Ireland are suffering today due to the serious financial situation we are in. It is expected that 200 Tyco workers in Cork will be let go today and yesterday 150 lost their jobs. Pfizer is letting go 180 workers and Harmon Electronics has let go 140 people in recent of months. I do not mean to belittle these statistics because they are important to the individuals affected. This morning ISME stated that small companies throughout the country are letting people go and we know this already. There has been a huge downturn in the construction sector and it has had a serious effect on unemployment. We all know stories relating to this difficult and uncertain situation which affects many people who look to the Government for direction. However, the Government is not giving direction — it packed its bags at the end of July and went on holidays and then decided to hold the budget in the middle of October. We are still waiting for direction from the Government and we still seek leadership on this matter.

Last night Deputies Varadkar and Bruton outlined how Spain got its house in order, despite the fact that before the summer it would have been seen as vulnerable and heading for a recession, like Ireland, due to an over reliance on the property sector. The Prime Minister of Spain called the Government back and asked its members to submit proposals to deal with the difficult economic situation. It is now apparent that Spain is moving out of recession, but Ireland's Taoiseach, Tánaiste and Minister for Finance are still caught, like rabbits in headlights, without a plan and with no direction for the economy.

Fine Gael has put forward many proposals and I suggest that we seriously try to tackle the issue of Ireland's competitiveness. This is a very expensive place to do business and I suspect this is why Tyco made its announcement today. Ireland is expensive in terms of labour costs and energy costs — there is no competition in the energy sector. This is an expensive country in terms of local authority charges, Government charges and the red tape with which companies must deal. These are all excesses that create difficulties for companies that want to do business here. Ireland is an expensive place to operate and its economy must become leaner and fitter. The Government must provide direction and leadership on this issue.

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