Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)

The State faces a massive and stark challenge it has never faced before. If urgent action is not taken now to face this challenge, the country will end up bankrupt. It is time to be honest with the people and time that the Government that led us into this black hole put up its hands and accepted responsibility. Successive Fianna Fáil Governments failed to fix the roof while the sun shone, and now we find ourselves drenched to the bone because the Taoiseach ignored the fact that our economy was so dependent on the construction sector. He was the chief architect in the construction of the housing bubble.

We are now forced to borrow €55 million every day, which is simply unsustainable. Our banking system is in dire straits and our competitive edge is gone. There has been a total collapse in consumer spending and confidence. Some 22,500 people lost their jobs last month and joined the dole queues. This month in the mid-west, Dell announced the loss of 1,900 jobs, and Molex in Shannon and Element 6, formerly De Beers, also announced job losses. There was a 60% increase in unemployment in County Clare last year. Every day in my constituency office I meet individuals from every walk of life who have lost their jobs, including people who worked in the retail sector and the self-employed.

We need to lower the cost base and improve our competitiveness. Why do we have an energy regulator who is talking about lowering the cost of petrol, fuel and electricity next October? This is a whole year away; we should be stepping in now. The Government should be insisting that costs be lowered. Since 2001 the cost of electricity in Ireland has increased by 70%, yet it has only increased by 6% in France.

We need to deal with the potential for long-term unemployment because it is an economic disaster. It damages individuals because they lose their self-respect, and potential employers lose interest in them. Those who have been unemployed for a short time have a good chance of regaining employment while those who have been unemployed for a long time have a very slim chance of doing so. The Government needs to acknowledge the potential for long-term unemployment and tackle it now rather than retrospectively.

I ask the Government to consider the immediate introduction of a public works scheme, administrated by FÁS and our national voluntary sector, which already sponsor community employment schemes. A scheme such as this would have two strengths; it would use the vast set of skills of tradesmen and it would benefit the community and voluntary sector.

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