Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

Again, I am examining various proposals but Deputy Bruton will appreciate that these matters are not easy to resolve because the reason for the drop in the numbers in employment is the international downturn which has impacted severely on a small open economy such as ours. There is clearly a global banking crisis which is not unique to this country. There was a pre-existing housing contraction which impacted on the construction industry before the global downturn began, but it is now clear that we are in a global downturn and this has had a severe impact on our small, open economy.

The measures open to the Government in these circumstances are limited but one of the most important initiatives that has been taken is that taken by businesses and workers themselves, namely, their willingness to take pay reductions to maintain the competitiveness of the goods and services they provide and to attend to their cost base. That is being done in many private enterprises in Ireland and it is being done by the State as well. It is essential the State does this in order that the general competitiveness of Ireland can be improved on the global stage.

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