Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

That is nonsense, as Deputy Adams knows. I made the position very clear in the House and we are following through on it. We have made some serious decisions in order to bring some certainty to the banking sector. I pointed out to the Deputy that credit to lend to business will be available from the two pillar banks. I also pointed out that we will introduce a partial loan guarantee scheme for further credit for business so that people in the Deputy's constituency will be able to go to work, will have a job, a career and opportunities. This is what good politics should be all about. It is not a case of having an easy to read document to which the Deputy refers. It will be very easy to tick off the decisions that have been made by Government in the interests of our people and of the country and we will continue to do this. As I stand here, no Government in the history of this State has faced the range of the economic challenge which this Government faces but we will face it with courage and fairness and deal with it because that is what the people elected us to do.

Deputy Joe Higgins referred to 22,000 to 25,000 jobs being cut. He will be aware of what is known as the Croke Park agreement and he will be aware that the Government intends to bring about a transformation of the delivery of public services making them efficient and effective without compulsory redundancies and allowing for the potential and creativity of many thousands of hard-working public servants who want to help their country. We hope to give them that opportunity.

Reform of local government in terms of the delivery of local services is an important issue. I was shocked to hear the Deputy's comment about 150,000 jobs being lost in local authorities until he changed the number to 250. This is a matter that unions and management of the local authority in question will be discussing very soon. I do not have the details of the numbers of retirements or voluntary redundancies that will apply there. I am confident those discussions will take place very shortly.

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