Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein)

That was a nice try by the Minister but he did not answer the question. Perhaps he does not have the information on when the Government was aware of those job losses. He said it is not business as usual. Of course it is not business as usual; it is certainly not business as usual for those workers or for any other worker who is seeking employment at the moment and who hears on the one hand from the Government the rhetoric of job creation but who sees the evidence of inertia. I do not believe that job creation is the priority for the Government. The Minister correctly said that the banking sector, in common with the construction sector, was used and abused by the great and the good - the speculators and the wealthy-----

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