Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael)

That is all I need.

In my own area of interest, the travel tax was left in place. This tax, which is absolutely counterproductive, was retained despite all the advice from business groups and the Government's own advisers, including the tourism renewal group and, this month, the National Competitiveness Council. It is madness for an island country dependent on inward travel to bring in tourists - and, indeed, for ordinary business purposes - to deliberately make access more difficult and expensive. We stand idly by while our airlines move out of Ireland to support tourism in the UK and mainland Europe. Even today, Ryanair announced that it is to open its 38th foreign base, in Malaga, and not one flight will be into Ireland - they are all going to other European countries. The only result of this is to put thousands more on the dole around the country and, worst of all, to ensure that the Government will have to impose further cuts on the most vulnerable people in the community.

I ask the Government to consider all these issues and to try to put the economy at the heart of this budget. It must ensure that we have fewer people on social welfare and that those who are on social welfare can be looked after.

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