Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)

-----football and even soccer matches, it would be useful to have a discussion in the House. I would welcome such a debate which is urgent given the level of public concern about the plan.

I note that the temporary partial credit guarantee Bill is on the A list. The proposed scheme is a good and welcome initiative given the number of small businesses which are struggling to secure the short-term credit that would allow them to expand or develop. I note, however, that the Government has announced this proposal on three occasions. It did so with a great brouhaha in its jobs initiative followed by an encore in the jobs budget and is doing so again in the new jobs action plan. It would be useful, therefore, to find out when the legislation will be introduced and how many jobs the Taoiseach expects to be created under the proposal.

See this speech in context