Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Our competitiveness was badly eroded during the property boom and the problem has been made worse by the fall in the value of sterling. It is a source of deep concern, therefore, to read reports that the Government is contemplating cuts in capital spending. Ireland has serious infrastructural deficits that must be remedied. Looking back on the past decade, it is unbelievable that the deficiencies in key infrastructures such as broadband could not be dealt with in the best of times. It was hard not to agree with the person I met last week who summed up the achievements of this Government as "a broken bank, two trams that don't meet and a spike in O'Connell Street".

For some months now, the Labour Party has been advancing concrete proposals to stimulate economy recovery and create jobs. Our approach has been similar to that proposed in November by the European Commission. Public investment should promote short-term stimulus and long-term competitiveness. We have brought forward a series of concrete ideas and proposals. We have argued repeatedly, for example, for additional investment in building projects such as schools and urban regeneration. The skills involved in building schools are similar to those involved in building houses. We have also argued that the Government should provide incentives to kick-start what might be a €25 billion industry, namely, insulating homes. That theme is also reflected by the EU Commission's stimulus plan which calls for investment in carbon reduction and green collar industries.

Some of those proposals have been taken on board, in theory, by the Government. It is flattering to hear the Taoiseach repeating them here today. What we need to see is action. My party has repeatedly called for innovative thinking in the field of education and training. We know that about 500,000 people need to upgrade their skills. Now is the time to do it. We need fresh, innovative thinking on how that can be achieved. The Labour Party suggested, for example, an earn and learn scheme. If a company is faced with reducing its workforce, why should it not move to having people working part of the week and learning for the rest of it? That is a far better solution than merely having people join the dole queue.

This is an emergency and we cannot get hung up on the rule book. We must think afresh. There is currently a cap on the number of places in further education which stops further education colleges from responding to the needs they themselves see. There is also a cap on vocational training opportunities scheme, VTOC, courses. The Taoiseach referred today to 30,000 places that will be available in higher and further education. However, he did not make it clear whether that refers to the existing 30,000 places or to an additional 30,000. If it is merely the existing figure that must be expanded in order that people who are coming out of employment will get the opportunity of re-entering the education system and upskilling.

Now is a time to invest in our people, who are the core of our competitiveness. What answer does the Government have, for example, for the thousands of young people who will graduate from college this year? Will they be faced in a few years with the old story of the 1980s, namely, one cannot get a job without experience, but one cannot get experience without a job? Rather than pay people to do nothing, can we come up with a work experience or job placement scheme? There is work to do in our country. This is a generation brimming with talent, energy and creativity, who are willing to give service to their country and their community. What is needed is the imagination and the energy to put their talents to good use.

For any recovery plan to work, however, it must be fair. It must be clear that the burden is being shared across society and not being borne by any one group. Here again, trust is vital. It is hard to see how a Government that presided over a frenzy of greed among property developers can now ask, with a straight face, for sacrifice from others. It has been suggested, for example, that a cut in public sector pay will have a demonstration effect for private sector pay and, in that way, will boost competitiveness. What that argument amounts to is a call for a simulated devaluation in our real exchange rate.

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