Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)

It is ridiculous in the extreme that people are in danger of losing their homes, some of whom took out mortgages with subprime lenders. These people will end up on the merry-go-round of having to draw rent supplements to rent back those houses. We need to ensure we have in place statutory provisions which protect people in their family homes. This will not result in a net cost to the economy. People are in a position to pay some but not all of their mortgage. With assistance from the State — there are many creative ways the State can assist in this regard — people's homes will be secured.

Thousands of young people, seduced by the lure of easy employment in the construction sector, now in their mid to late twenties, left school with good leaving certificates but did not pursue further studies. We need to invest significantly in retraining and upskilling these people. Otherwise, they will be consigned to a lifetime of unskilled or semi-skilled labour, which is not the future. I implore my constituency colleague, the Minister for Education and Science, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, to address this issue in terms of any blueprint on the way forward.

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