Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

All of that is an "as you were". It is a recitation of the measures, schemes and steps already in place. What those who have been losing their jobs, many of whom the Taoiseach and I meet, are asking is when are they likely to find work and what steps is the Government taking to source and encourage new employment for them. They are wondering for how long they will be out of work. They have suddenly dropped to a situation where they are on social welfare, with substantial household bills to meet and large mortgages. In the past few days my colleague, Deputy Shortall, has highlighted the extent to which people now have recourse to the Money Advice and Budgeting Service, mortgage interest relief and other measures they never thought they would have to access. We know what has been happening in construction for some time but it is also happening in services that have been supplying the construction industry and professions associated with it. Young professionals — solicitors, architects and engineers — are losing their jobs and finding themselves out of work with a large mortgage as they start their lives.

The questions they ask are when they will get a job, how long they will be out of work for and how long the Government plans on leaving them on social welfare. The scale of what has happened over the past 12 months in terms of people losing jobs has not been fully grasped by the Government. A debate will be held tonight on foot of the Labour Party motion but the self-congratulatory, business as usual amendment that the Government tabled is not the response that these people were seeking. We need to hear that new initiatives are being contemplated and will be taken to get people back to work and provide hope for those who find themselves in a new situation, one they never anticipated and are finding increasingly difficult to cope with.

See this speech in context