Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I agree with everything the Taoiseach said in his opening remarks. There is no more important part of the legacy of a Government than to have created jobs. By his own admission, at the end of his Government's four year austerity programme, there will be almost as many people still unemployed as there are now. This is the biggest crisis facing the State. Can the idea of a substantive jobs stimulus not find favour with the Government? One of Sinn Féin's propositions in its pre-budget submission is to take money from the National Pensions Reserve Fund and from the European Central Bank and to use it for the creation of new jobs and the retention of existing jobs. I commend this proposition to the Taoiseach as one way of getting people back to work, growing the economy, bringing back confidence and giving people the dignity they require.

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