Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

There is no question in anyone's mind that the most important legacy of any Government is its capacity to create jobs and work, to get people off the dole and into employment. Work is a source of dignity and respect for people. It provides a challenge and a motivation for them to get up in the morning to go to work and to contribute to their own local economy, their parish, their town, their county and their country.

One of the big issues raised when I meet business people all over the country has been the question of lack of access to credit and lack of availability of credit. For this reason we called in the banks last week to discuss this question and to hear from the two pillar banks whether they can meet their targets of lending €3 billion each this year. It transpires that elements of that €3 billion are restructured loans and new finance.

The Minister for Enterprise, Jobs and Innovation, is at the point of being able to bring forward his proposals in respect of a microfinance agency and legislation for partial loan guarantee schemes. The pension levy, to which the Deputy referred, is a temporary levy in respect of which the pensions industry could well absorb the cost involved. That money has been channelled into the reduction of PRSI for particularly lower paid workers and for VAT reductions in the hospitality sector. The latest report clearly indicates that the VAT reduction had a direct impact on the rising number of tourists, which in turn has a beneficial effect on local economies.

From that perspective, we will continue to look at imaginative ways of stimulating the indigenous economy. For example, the short-term visa waiver programme now applies to 14 nationalities who would ordinarily require a visa to enter the State and there has been great interest in this programme. Approximately 1,000 jobs will be created by capital injection towards the rehabilitation of local and national roads. An extensive retrofitting energy scheme has the capacity for significant employment. The Government will provide €30 million for school works in addition to €41 million already provided for the schools summer works scheme. This will support 2,400 direct jobs and almost 500 indirect jobs during the period of the works.

I want to see a real jobs strategy. The Minister of State, Deputy John Perry, and the Minister, Deputy Bruton will, along with the budget, focus on a jobs strategy to get the country working. We all want to see the creation of opportunities and to get people off the dole.

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