Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

I listened quietly to the points made by the Minister and I ask that he do the same for me. The Taoiseach stated that there will be an additional 100,000 persons unemployed this year. What type of message does this send out to the public? It is indicative of failure and shows that the Government has no plans in place to deal with rising unemployment. The Government should be bringing forward policies to provide jobs. Instead, I am gravely concerned that it is using the framework for working with the social partners as a political shield rather than as a mechanism for bringing forward policies. The Government has yet to state what will form part of this framework. I see the Minister is leaving the Chamber.

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