Pat Rabbitte (Dublin South West, Labour)

I support this amendment. I do so with an element of care because some tax designation measures of recent times have been overdone and overcooked. This, however, is rather a special case for all of the reasons the House well understands. I am not sure I understand the Minister's reply. The last public utterance on this came from the Minister's colleague, Deputy O'Dea, before his defenestration at his own hand when he said the State could not keep its end of the bargain but that he had on tap a number of private investors waiting to move in and fill the gap. As Deputy O'Sullivan has said, in the only instance of that I have picked up on, the private investor concerned is contingent on something along those lines being put in place. I am sure the Minister agrees with Deputies Bruton and O'Sullivan that we cannot leave this in the mess it is in now until six or seven years down the road when the economy starts to pick up again. I would like to hear the Minister set out her plans if she is not prepared to take on board the amendment before the House.

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