Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I totally refute that comment. There is a fabulous team in the Department made up of myself, the Ministers of State, the Secretary General, assistant secretaries and all who support the Department, including Forfás, Enterprise Ireland, the IDA, county enterprise boards, the training agency, FÁS, and a host of other agencies which provide for the needs of business and those who are unemployed in this country. I firmly believe that, due to our electoral system, each Member of this House is acutely aware of what is happening in the world, regardless of their politics. It is wrong to claim that I and the team that is elected to represent the Department are not aware of the issues and challenges that exist. We have adequate resources although, of course, like any other Department we could spend more.

We have completely refocused the way the programmes are delivered by the Department. The focus is on supporting small and medium sized enterprises, SMEs. I introduced a stabilisation fund to focus on the stability and sustainability of business and where there are new opportunities in the markets. That is the reason two of my colleagues are abroad on my behalf, one in Bahrain and the other in Russia. They are examining the new opportunities there for our SMEs. We will continue to refocus on and evaluate the needs of the business sector and the unemployed. The target in FÁS is to refocus available resources towards the unemployed.

See this speech in context