Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

I am glad to have the opportunity to speak on this important, imaginative and constructive intervention by the Government. This is the first response of this nature that I witnessed in the House in the past ten years. These are the first baby steps in an attempt to enable the economy to recover. The responsibility for economic recovery does not rest in any one area but across the board in the public and private sectors. It rests with each Minister and his or her Department and each Member to be realistic in our expectations and aspirations.

I am concerned most by the degree to which people in this House call for miracles. Before the general election everyone across the country - and outside it- knew there would be no miracles but that the country was in financial receivership. To work our way out of it we must be realistic, taking one step at a time. Each and every one of us must work harder, for longer and for less. Everyone will feel pain. Unfortunately, those at the bottom very often feel the most pain simply by virtue of the way things happen. There is no way anyone can get more out of the economy. The only thing we can do is to shore it up and do the best we can for the foreseeable future.

The Government's jobs initiative is a good and a positive attempt to deal with the employment problem. The Government could not produce money out of a hat. I have to laugh when I hear the Opposition call for such spending. In recent years, when we were on the opposite side of the House, we called on the then Government to address the employment issues looming on the horizon in an imaginative way but it did nothing.

The results of this initiative will be positive. Deputy Seán Crowe called for a 5% or 4% reduction in employment figures. Even a 2% reduction would be a positive response. We must be glad of anything we can achieve from here on that is positive.

We must keep in mind the points recently made by an eminent judge. As we go further down the road in this recession, issues will rise up and bite us. The problem with indebtedness has not gone away and is in fact growing. Just because the level of repossession has not reached the levels suggested in some quarters, they have not stopped. It does not matter whether a house is worth €100,000 or €700,000. The fact is that those funding the mortgage debt are unemployed and in serious difficulties.

At this stage of my life, I have more than a little experience of dealing with banks on behalf of constituents. Some banking executives are very helpful and co-operative. Some are not. The amount of bureaucracy and red tape in place to protect people within certain institutions is unbelievable. It is no wonder we are where we are. Elected public representatives must jump through a number of hoops when interceding on behalf of people with local authorities, financial institutions and so on. For example, the first question one is asked in this regard is "Do you have authority to speak on behalf of your constituent?" I remind these people that we do not need authority to speak on behalf of our constituents. Every Member of this House received that mandate from the people and no one has the right to in any way interfere or restrict it.

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