Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

Is the Minister aware that approximately 440,000 people, one third of whom are men, are unemployed? It is a national disaster. The figure I have given does not take account of emigration, which has resumed at a strong level among people who had previously migrated to this country and at a high level among young Irish graduates. People in the latter group are going anywhere in the world they can, in order to try to secure employment. Does the Minister have any plans in this regard? Can Fianna Fáil offer any hope that a job creation strategy will be introduced? We know that Fianna Fáil is spending a lot of time on bankers and developers, but it seems to have no interest in the unemployed. The Green Party does not seem to be making an input into solving the problems of the unemployed. Does the Minister have any kind of strategy for getting people back into work? Is he aware that tax flows are strongest in countries with high labour participation rates, such as the Nordic countries, because more people are contributing and that economies tend to be most stable in such countries?

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