Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

While I accept Deputy Morgan's good faith in putting this question, I do not accept its premise. I consider the quarterly labour force survey to be a far more reliable indicator of the extent of unemployment than are the CSO data relating to the live register. It provides a more accurate picture because not everyone who is on the live register is unemployed. Nevertheless, the position is serious and regardless of how one analyses the statistics, it reminds one of the essential need to put our economic house in order. The position in respect of competitiveness in Ireland, as it developed during the latter part of this decade, is highly serious. It is clear that we had priced ourselves out of world markets and had developed unrealistic expectations about how we could manage ourselves as citizens, workers, employers, householders or self-employed producers. There are clear signs in the economy that this has been recognised, that such realities are accepted and that we are taking the necessary measures to put us back on the road to recovery.

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