Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

The truth is that the number of people on the live register is 448,600 people, 7,300 more than the day the Government entered office.

The Government pointed to increased tourism numbers in 2011. There is evidence of that and we welcome it. That increase is compared to the exceptionally low base in 2010 and the signs of recovery in tourism were evident before the VAT reduction took effect in July.

Today's budget fails to give any meaningful hope to those looking for a job. The Minister outlined some measures to give a boost to job creation, and we welcome those in so far as they go, particularly the changes for research and development. We included those in our budget submission. The Minister announced again the loan guarantee fund and the microfinance fund, along with some measures to companies that wish to export to the emerging economies. Those measures are welcome but they are limited. I expected enterprise, job creation and targeted initiatives would be at the centre of the budget and such measures are sadly lacking. There are no targets and there is no timetable for delivery and long gone is the talk of 100,000 new jobs. When I look at the detail of the document put before us today in the stability and growth update, net employment is expected to fall slightly next year by 0.2% with unemployment averaging 14.1% in 2012. The Government is effectively saying there will be no discernible improvement in the employment situation in 2012. That will be a major disappointment for many people looking for a job.

I am glad the Minister read our budget proposals on the universal social charge and the changes being introduced to exempt many part-time, casual and seasonal workers. That is a step in the right direction. I am sure Government backbenchers will agree that it is a modest change to a charge Fine Gael and Labour railed against from the Opposition benches last year. I am sure he will not seek to spin this change out of all proportion because the truth is that for anyone working full-time, it makes no difference, while for those earning less than €10,000 there can be a saving of up to €4 per week but that saving has been more than wiped out for anyone relying on any welfare benefit by the changes announced yesterday.

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