Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

I also welcome the opportunity afforded by this motion to set out some of my work, and that of this Government, to support the vital SME sector, to get credit flowing to business, ensure business are paid more quickly by Government, reform the public procurement process and support the expansion of Ireland's green economy. I only regret I do not have the time to set out my work on many other areas, such as business regulation, competitiveness, the knowledge economy, workers' rights, competition and consumer law.

All of these individual actions, together with many more that fall within the remit of my Department, are ultimately aimed at job retention and creation. It is the singular goal behind my work and the work of this Government, as it is only through employment and enterprise, and the income that it generates, that we can fund so much else that this Government wants to achieve. I want entrepreneurs, businesses, employees and those seeking work to know that this is my priority. I want them to know I have listened to their concerns and have acted on them.

As a result, over past months we have had initiatives such as the enterprise stabilisation fund to help protect jobs in our exporting companies hit by current difficulties. Due diligence is under way on a scheme for export credit insurance to further assist our exporting companies. A code of conduct for business lending to SMEs has been enacted, so our SMEs know where they stand regarding the banks.

A credit supply clearing group was established to tackle the credit supply issue, establish the facts and take on the spin and myths. There is a commitment by central Government to pay its debts to business within 15 rather than 30 days. A revamp is under way of our public procurement policy to make it more SME-friendly. A Companies Law (Amendment) Act to toughen our company law regime against potential abuse was passed. New tax changes were introduced to support job creation through the development of intellectual property assets in Ireland.

An unprecedented level of training and activation measures have been put in place to assist those seeking employment. New and innovative programmes were established to keep people in jobs deemed vulnerable and to get graduates work experience. A high level group on green enterprise was established and new FÁS courses to train people for jobs in the green economy were put in place, among many other measures.

We have not been slow either to act and engage on particular problem cases, such as the loss of jobs at Dell in Limerick, where we have established the mid-west regional task force and are ready to submit our application to the European globalisation fund; at Waterford Crystal, where we worked hard to find a buyer and salvage redundancy for the workers; and at SR Technics, where we intervened to ensure that skilled expertise is not lost to Dublin. There are many other lesser-profile cases where we have also engaged to save jobs, support the resolution of problems and protect viable enterprises, but this work often, of necessity, goes unspoken of.

All of this work is being undertaken at a time of unprecedented challenges for Ireland and our economy. All in this House know that stabilisation of our public finances and resolving the problems in our banking system are key to our economic recovery. While we have complete incoherence on the Opposition benches as to how these challenges would be met by an Opposition Administration, the Government has forged ahead and taken necessary decisions.

Without decisive corrective action, our public finances, already under strain, would quickly have reached unsustainable levels. A combination of taxation increases, expenditure reductions and efficiency gains were necessary and had to be put in place. More will also have to follow. Implementing these measures will not be without pain, but in the medium to long term, these, together with cyclical improvements in the economy, will restore the public finances below the required 3% of GDP and protect the long-term viability of this economy.

Difficulties in the banking sector are also being addressed through a series of targeted responses which include a guarantee of certain liabilities, nationalisation of Anglo Irish Bank, a recapitalisation programme, the proposed establishment of NAMA and improvements in the regulatory regime. Again, incoherence on the Opposition benches leaves the public without any comprehension of a likely alternative to these decisive actions taken by Government.

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