Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

With regard to where we are now, the idea that the Government is not involved in seeking to protect jobs is a nonsense. By taking the decisions we have taken and by improving competitiveness in the economy by 7% per unit labour cost compared to our competitors, we are seeking to protect the 1.85 million jobs in the economy. Were we to pursue the policies promulgated by the Labour Party over the past year where we would increase our indebtedness, we would have fewer jobs and we would not be able to maintain competitiveness in this economy.

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