Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein)

It is exactly seven months since the Government took office. In that period, an extra 25,144 people have signed on the live register and, going by ESRI figures, 29,166 people emigrated. That is a shocking figure of over 50,000 people, with 1,667 people signing on or leaving every week, something that has an unbelievably negative effect on the country.

So far the Government's answer to the crisis has been JobBridge, a €40 million investment in capital and current expenditure. Going by the Government's figures, that creates about 400 jobs, the equivalent of two days of signing on and emigration. Those figures represent a serious crisis, one where people cannot feed their families, pay their mortgages, heat their houses or go to the doctor, with many families leaving Ireland for good. The depth of the crisis and those shocking figures are an indictment of the Government in that time. We need an immediate, substantial and enormous response. The Minister for Finance stated this is not a Keynesian stimulus package but that is exactly what the crisis demands.

On two occasions the Taoiseach has intimated in the Chamber that there are jobs but that Irish people do not want them, that they were not happy with the wages and the relevant employer had to ask for immigrants to fill the posts. I do not believe that. Irish people want to work and if the Government wanted to resolve this situation, it would be simple to create social media based on a system such as LinkedIn where the unemployed could upload their CVs and businesses could immediately find them. Through the State they could then work out exactly who could fill these jobs.

On other occasions Government Ministers have said we are in a terrible crisis but we are not hearing anything from Sinn Féin on the issue. The opposite is the reality; if people came into the Chamber and listened to the debates, they would hear we have made many suggestions that would create jobs without massive costs to the State. Those jobs would make a serious difference.

The Government claims the State does not create jobs but clearly it does; it is one of the biggest employers, directly and indirectly. Before the recession many massive contracts for roads, schools, hospitals and electricity and water infrastructure created thousands of jobs for small businesses. Targeted capital investment by the State would create the badly needed infrastructure while significantly improving the competitiveness of the State.

Small businesses are having major difficulties accessing State tenders because they are not built to suit small businesses. Businesses must have large balance sheets and years of profit generation before they can even be considered for these tenders. Infrastructural investment leads to a one to three multiplier, which is a massive factor in an open economy, so if the Government created a tender system that was accessible to small business, many of them would be able to migrate from a position where they employ less than ten employees to become larger businesses with more than 50 employees. The process must be streamlined and made more accessible for small businesses.

Accessing credit is another major problem. The Government tells us credit is being made available; the State has made €6 billion available for small business. That cannot be the case. Banks must deleverage by €70 billion while the Government sets them the objective of loaning €6 billion to small business. The two objectives are incongruous and cannot be achieved: only one or the other can be achieved. ISME stated in July that 58% of small businesses cannot get credit but the Credit Review Office has reviewed 100 applications, intervening on 30 occasions. Of the small businesses that have applied for credit, 58% did not get it but the Government response - the Credit Review Office - has only intervened 30 times. This is an anaemic and inadequate response to a major crisis.

Ireland's competitiveness has gone down the tubes in the last years. Serious energy, telecommunications, waste management and transport cost reductions are needed, with proper hedging for the energy supply. The State must make a concerted effort to move away from fossil fuels, which are experiencing major upward pressure in price. A number of large commercial organisations have claimed fuel and energy costs are almost more important when deciding on a location than corporation tax rates. This will become more prevalent in the future.

Three Irish enterprise agencies, the IDA, InvestNI and Enterprise Ireland, have offices throughout the world. These three organisations could be amalgamated and their offices rationalised with no reduction in their effectiveness. These organisations are orientated towards the sluggish old world and not towards the BRIC countries - Brazil, Russia, India and China - which is where growth will happen in the near future.

Seven months after the formation of the Government there is still no nationwide export training programme for businesses with fewer than ten employees. These businesses are the engine that will get the country going again, but all export related supports are delivered in an ad hoc fashion.

County enterprise boards offer major opportunities in local areas. They could become business incubation centres where hot desks could be provided for local businesses that are trying to start up but do not have a location. These businesses could come in and share a computer or a space where they could invite customers or do work. County enterprise boards could help with legal, human resources, accountancy or funding matters. These incubation units could be linked with local third level institutions to help with the cross-fertilisation of ideas.

The grant aid system needs to be reformed. It was designed when the economic bubble was at its biggest. The mid-east region of Louth, Kildare, Wicklow and Dublin cannot now offer the full gamut of grants to businesses because it is hampered by EU rules. This situation will not be altered until 2013 unless the Government gets its act together and makes it happen.

The Government should consider PRSI reform. A generation of people have been educated away from the idea of enterprise. They have been told that there is no safety net if one fails at enterprise. A simple reform could create a PRSI safety net for people who take the risk of starting their own businesses. People could leave the support of social welfare and develop a business without putting their families at the risk of freefall if the business fails.

An enormous amount of reform and change can happen within the enterprise sector and to support enterprise. These matters must not be put on the long finger. A State investment bank, which is part of the programme for Government, could be established within six months. As far as I am aware, discussions as to how it will be constituted have not even started. The Joint Committee on Jobs, Social Protection and Education has not been involved in any discussions and is not aware that they are taking place. It is important that the joint committee be part of those discussions.

It is seven months today since the Government took office. In that time, 25,414 extra people have signed on the dole and 29,166 people have been forced to emigrate. Fianna Fáil were responsible for unemployment of 400,000, but the Government is building up its own set of figures. I implore the Government to get started.

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