Andrew Doyle (Wicklow, Fine Gael)

I wish to share my time with Deputy Carey and Deputy Connaughton.

There is no doubt that this is a critical national issue, but I question the value of the time being used to make statements on it. We are being asked to play a game of football, but the person who asked us to play wants to keep the ball stuck up his jersey like a kid with a new ball. I have heard good contributions from both sides of the House. If Deputy Byrne spent less time anticipating the Private Members' Bill we were going to produce and came up with a few more ideas, he would better serve the House.

We are lacking both confidence and credit. We are talking about encouraging people to spend but one cannot spend if one does not have the money to do so. There is value to be had but we are not able to avail of it. There will never be value like it. I welcome what the Minister of State, Deputy Finneran, said about the initiative pertaining to the leasing of houses. There is value to be had and it is on this initiative that his resources should be spent.

Deputy McGrath referred to the renationalisation of Eircom. There is an historical deficit with regard to broadband. When Eircom was being privatised, no provision was made to ensure broadband would be rolled out everywhere. People in the business tell me the initiative announced last week will be out of date before the installation. There is not much point in proceeding if it involves throwing good money after bad.

This country should go back to basics. We can do certain things very well. For instance, we can produce food in a more carbon-efficient manner than any other country and we have great potential in terms of renewable energy. With regard to ocean energy, we have the potential to become what has been described as the "Saudi Arabia of ocean energy". We have always been good at producing pharmaceutical goods and at pharmaceutical research and we should return to this.

When one hears that Google could not recruit 20 high-end engineers and had to go elsewhere, one must ask whether our education system is losing its edge. We were always able to anticipate the new wave. When Ford and Dunlop jobs were being lost in Cork, there was no Dell or Google, yet we were able to position ourselves such that we could invite such companies to replace the lost jobs. The companies that located here provided better jobs. We must return to basics and be in a position to anticipate the next wave.

Ireland has its foot in both camps in that it speaks English, is in the eurozone and is better connected to the United States than most other countries. It is able to trade with some of the countries that will not trade with the United States. We have a foot in Boston and Berlin, as somebody said. It is not rocket science to get 2 million people working.

Partnership talks, occurring by force rather than anything else, imply we are readjusting to become a more cost-competitive country. We need a kick start. I agree with Deputy McGrath that we should have a national recovery team and gather together the best brains in education, science and enterprise. We should set up a forum and pay its members nothing — they should be patriots. If the two Houses cannot do so, or will not be allowed to do so, the process should be part and parcel of all our thoughts. We can do this if we are genuinely interested in playing the team game.

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