Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

Last weekend, the EU finance ministers put together a package of €750 billion for the relief of distressed eurozone economies. I am disappointed that the Dáil did not have an opportunity to discuss the matter, as allowed under the Lisbon treaty, in advance of its being considered by the EU ministers. While the new mechanism is necessary, it is insufficient in so far as it will not deal with the structural deficiencies in the economies of vulnerable eurozone countries, including Ireland. Although it will deal with debt liquidity for a period of time, it will not deal with the financing pressures that will arise in the future in the absence of a serious and determined programme of competitiveness, growth and investment. Ireland is no different - we cannot plan for a jobless recovery.

It is worth mentioning, in that context, that 433,000 people are on the live register at the moment. They yearn to have a job, to enjoy the privilege of going to work and to contribute to the economy and the good of society. In his Budget Statement of April 2009, the Minister for Finance set aside €100 million enterprise stabilisation fund, designed specifically to protect vulnerable employers and businesses, to allow them to continue to trade internationally, to enable them to maintain their workforces and to help them to get through this crisis. Can he explain why a fund that was supposed to protect jobs, in the first instance, was cut by €22 million at a time when 433,000 people are on the live register?

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