John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I am glad to make a contribution to this debate and I commend my Fine Gael colleagues for tabling this motion.

In recent weeks, the ordinary people have been crying out for the Government and the Taoiseach and Minister for Finance in particular to get to grips with the situation and take control of our financial problems. They are willing to take some pain if they see it shared out in a fair and equitable way. I am glad the Government responded, albeit belatedly, to the need for a supplementary budget in this House yesterday. Although this was suggested by my party leader, Deputy Kenny, last week, at the time it was perceived to be completely unnecessary by the Tánaiste. One can only say that a week is a long time in politics.

The figures for unemployment given in the House this morning by the Taoiseach were frightening, namely, 354,000, with the possibility that this figure will exceed half a million before the end of the year, if present trends continue. Since 1 January, if my figures are correct, we have been losing approximately 1,100 jobs a day. Consequently, while it is vital to get spending under control, to widen the tax base and to increase revenue, the forthcoming budget also must include measures that will stimulate business and job creation, as well as job protection, because small enterprises with nine or ten employees make up the bulk of the job losses announced by the Government this morning. These figures are even understated because the owners of small businesses that have closed down are entitled to nothing. They received no assistance when they were up and running and providing employment and now they will not even get unemployment benefit because they were self-employed.

Everyone realises that difficult decisions must be taken and Fine Gael has made many wide-ranging suggestions that should be taken on board. However, a couple of other issues also must be addressed. If people have lost their jobs or are obliged to pay higher taxes or levies, the last thing they need to see from the top is wastage of public money or extreme extravagance. However, all Members are aware that plenty of examples of such wastage have occurred, even up to last weekend. For instance, new offices for the former Taoiseach were refurbished less than nine months ago at a cost of almost €250,000. As for the dearest sweetshop in town located in front of Leinster House, half a million euro was spent on the glass alone and its total cost was more than €1.3 million. The Tánaiste spent €50,000 on having a toilet refurbished in her offices. It cost €164,000 to fly two Ministers to America to meet the head of Dell Corporation. Almost half a million euro was spent in 2007 and 2008 solely on press launches in the various Departments.

The public needs to see evidence that lessons have been learned from the mistakes of the past. However, this had not happened up until Monday last, when the travel undertaken by the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Deputy Cullen, cost €8,000 for one day. Nevertheless, the next couple of weeks provide a good opportunity to illustrate belt tightening at the top, when the St. Patrick's Day celebrations will take place around the world. The cost of travel for St. Patrick's Day last year amounted to €560,000, which did not take into account the cost of the Government jet. In that context it is worth noting that €112 million has been spent on school prefabs since 2006. Reallocating some of this money to the schools building programme would surely offer better value for money. We are told that the annual rent for a prefabricated building is some €12,000. More than €500,000 was spent on the provision of prefabricated accommodation in Mayo alone last year.

The Taoiseach stated in this House recently that he has no plans to reduce the number of Ministers of State, even though, he claimed, there was a queue of these people some months ago offering to hand back their portfolios. I have learned over the years that to say sorry when one has made a mistake is a sign of strength. One always earns respect for so doing. We saw the effect when the new President of the United States, Mr. Barack Obama, apologised recently for a mistake he had made. Unfortunately, Members on the other side of the House have refused to apologise for the mess the Government has made of running this country in recent years.

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