Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)

I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion this evening. I commend the Technical Group on bringing the motion before the House.

Jobs, the lack of jobs and our efforts to create and retain jobs are issues that have a real impact on the lives of ordinary people right across the State, whom we know are struggling. The political choices made by successive Governments have ensured that. In truth, we have a crisis, which this Government thinks it can cut its way out of. The austerity measures being planned by the Government, and prescribed by the previous one, have resulted in hundreds of thousands of people being unemployed and wondering which bills to prioritise: the weekly grocery bill, the visit to the doctor, the child care fees, the ESB bill, the gas bill or the back to school fees, including uniforms, transport, books and registration, not to mention the rent or mortgage. Many people now find themselves in a situation where they have no disposable income at all. Many are faced with having to make a choice as to whether to call a plumber, visit the doctor, pay house insurance or simply to put food on the table.

While the Government dithers around the edges with a jobs budget-cum-initiative, more and more people are being dragged under the water. Having more than 470,000 people out of work is a national emergency. A total of 60,000 young people emigrating is a moral disgrace. It cannot be allowed to continue. Our best and brightest are boarding planes and ships on an hourly basis. We are losing a generation of bright, energetic and gifted young people because of a lack of action on jobs. We need real and meaningful solutions.

It is time for the Government to re-evaluate its course of action. It is time for it to get its priorities straight, to get this country back on its feet and to start to make the right choices for the people of this State. People want to work. They have a right to work. Article 15.1 of the EU Convention on Human Rights tells us that we have a right to engage in work and to pursue a freely chosen or accepted occupation. This country needs a job creation and stimulus package if we are to fulfil these obligations. We must provide people with opportunities. Successive Governments have failed to do that. They have consistently relied on short-term measures which we all knew were destined for failure.

Sinn Féin warned that the construction sector was over-inflated. We demanded pre-emptive intervention for workers in vulnerable sectors of the economy. We warned that economic growth was being driven by domestic consumption rather than exports. Nothing was done. There is an epidemic of wrong choices and inaction in this country when it comes to job protection and creation. Small and medium enterprises need to be able to access money. They need to be able to access credit. We need them to be able to get paid. There is without doubt a better way to protect and save jobs.

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