Deirdre Clune (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

I wish to share time with Deputies O'Mahony, Flanagan, D'Arcy, McHugh and Doyle. The motion on which we speak today is really about creating jobs, more jobs and then further jobs for the economy. On a day when we heard figures from the ESRI and the CSO which predict that by the end of next year one in five persons will be unemployed in this country, we must place our emphasis on protecting jobs, stopping the haemorrhaging of jobs now in the economy and creating new ones. To do that we need investment. We must invest in infrastructure, water and waste water treatment. Broadband is essential for a small open economy such as ours which depends so much on exports. Exports will once again become very important to the economic success of this country. I heard the Minister speak tonight about broadband and on the "Six O'Clock News" I saw a representative of small and medium enterprises speak about the lack of broadband facilities across this country. There is a great disconnect between what we hear in this Chamber and what is said on the "Six O'Clock News".

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