Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

Any meetings I had were to talk about what is being done and consider whether the agencies have other ideas that we could modify and bring forward. Those ideas are being considered at present. It is often forgotten that FÁS is also an employment service organisation. Some 62,000 people will be taking up employment as a result of jobs advertised through that agency alone, quite apart from other employment agencies. The number of people coming in and out of the workforce is not a static figure. People are moving in and out of it all the time. That is not often appreciated in terms of how the labour market works or what job opportunities arise. It is often overlooked.

I listened to what the State agencies had to say on how we might improve, where possible, existing policies and how we might better support businesses, including small and medium-sized businesses. One of the tasks we must also complete is improving credit access because it is fundamental. Many of the arguments we are having on banking here overlook the fact that unless we have a functioning banking system, we cannot have a functioning business sector. We cannot maintain, create and grow jobs without the certainty and predictability of access to funding. That is why we must make certain decisions and put the line under certain issues. Unless we do so, we will continue to be handicapped by people not being able to gain access to the funds they need. I am thankful, however, that Bank of Ireland and other banks are in a position to get funds from international markets and do the business of banking, which is about providing money to those who have viable projects, businesses and operations and to ordinary consumers who require banking services just to conduct their daily lives. We must take cognisance of this.

With regard to the specific meetings that were held, there were talks with FÁS on what schemes could be improved. There were talks with Enterprise Ireland on what further assistance we can give. It is important to note the green enterprise action plan. All such issues were mentioned. Some 5,000 people are employed in energy-efficiency retrofitting. These initiatives are being taken on. We have seen what has been done in respect of tax exemptions for those who set up their own business and PRSI exemptions for employers who take on more employees. We are doing all these things. Ultimately, however, while they are helpful for thousands of people, the fundamental question of how we keep 1.8 million people at work and get more enterprises to provide more permanent and gainful employment is one of ensuring we have a competitive economy, driving our exports, cutting our costs and getting our public finances back into order. Unless and until we do that, we will not be looking at the core of the issue, namely, making sure that we support enterprise at a difficult time for it but also get our public finances back into order.

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