Dinny McGinley (Donegal South West, Fine Gael)

We all realise the seriousness of the situation. The latest report this morning from the Central Bank is more pessimistic that anything that has emerged in the past year, with its announcement that GNP will decrease by a further 5% this year. That is very serious.

We on this side of the House realised how serious it was long before Members on the Government side. Only a few weeks ago they were saying that these are not the 1980s. I was here in the 1980s and I know how serious it was, but there is no comparison with the situation now. In the limited time I have, I want to demonstrate how serious the impact is on my constituency in Donegal, where most of the indigenous industries are in very big trouble. The fishing industry, agriculture, construction and tourism are gone in every part of the country, and in Donegal. This time last year in Donegal there were 9,000 on the live register. The last figure published for the month of December was 15,264, an increase in one year of more than 70%. That is a concrete indicator of how serious is the situation in our county.

Donegal is a Border county, in the front trenches when it comes to the effect of exchange rate changes on the local economy. At present, there is almost parity between the euro and sterling and this presents a major incentive for people from my county and further south to avail of cheaper goods in Northern Ireland. I do not know how this may be addressed. Small businesses, many of which would have accounted for the 7,000 jobs lost in the last year, are hanging on by their fingertips. When the banks are being recapitalised, I would appeal for consideration to be given to the plight of such small businesses and at-risk mortgage holders, so that people may have some incentive towards economic survival.

There are opportunities in the shape of work that needs to be done. There are schools to be built in our county and roads to be built too. Yesterday the National Roads Authority revealed that the budget allocation for our county was to be reduced to €9 million, while last year we got €20 million and the year before €32 million. We wanted €30 million this year and met the NRA, but we are now down to €9 million. There is great scope for action in the shape of the slack that needs to be taken up. If we concentrate on improving infrastructure, schools, roads, bridges, and so on, at least it would re-employ some of these skilled people.

See this speech in context