Joe McHugh (Donegal North East, Fine Gael)

Some small and medium sized enterprises in this country are surviving. They are working in the global market. They will continue to survive. We should be supporting small business, at the discretion of the Minister. If a small business is thriving, we should give it incentives to help it to take people off the dole and into work. Perhaps we could make grant aid available to help small businesses to expand. That is just one way of making progress in this regard. As people lose their livelihoods, they become insecure, which is the last thing this country needs. We are all responsible for nurturing the type of democracy to which we all aspire. We need to do something quickly. I emphasise that economies in other parts of the world, including the United Kingdom and the United States, are doing something about these problems. I appreciate that we are affected by international factors. The effects of the troubled economic climate are even being felt in Dubai. As I said earlier, the Irish economy is like a boat off the coast of Tory Island — it is rudderless and it lacks a captain.

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