Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael)

I welcome this Labour Party motion, which addresses a serious issue. My party has tabled additional amendments that may be accommodated as the debate proceeds. However, I do not think we can accept the Government's amendments. This issue is becoming increasingly serious and has to be addressed through the range of initiatives which have been set out in the motion and my party's amendments.

Unemployment figures are increasing. The Government has to acknowledge this problem and accept its responsibility for solving it because one of its functions is job creation. Tonight's debate presents an opportunity to discuss ideas rather than criticise the Government. That is what Deputy Penrose and his colleagues have done thus far but the Tánaiste has rehearsed the same speech which I have heard at least ten times already. Earlier today, I attended a meeting with IDA Ireland at which the same historical figures were thrown about. During the meetings that the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment held with FÁS, Enterprise Ireland and the county enterprise boards, we heard the same 11 year old references. A lot has changed in the past 11 years so there is no point in comparing job figures. Let us deal with the problems that will arise in the coming months and forget about clapping ourselves on the back for all that was done. We need to ask what new ideas we can try. The Opposition is here to discuss these ideas with a view to finding a positive outcome. Several months ago, the joint committee invited the various organisations to discuss these ideas but all we received were history presentations. There was no discussion on new strategies for job creation. While I hope next week's budget will reveal new ideas, we should start to discuss them now so that we can reach agreement on what will work.

The Tánaiste referred to pensioners and the new measures that FÁS is implementing. I am not aware of these measures. We are told it is compiling a database for matching those who have lost jobs with new employment. It made one change so that it can avoid working on-site to move to the next phase of education. No other new ideas are forthcoming.

See this speech in context