Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)

As a supplementary to the questions I tabled on these important Cabinet sub-committees, first, I want to acknowledge the Taoiseach's acknowledgement of the role of the last Government in terms of Food Harvest 2020 and creating a blueprint which has had the buy-in of all the stakeholders concerned with the development of the agriculture and food industry, which is an important platform for the growth of that sector and the creation of jobs. I also welcome the Taoiseach's acknowledgement of industrial strategy over recent years, which has essentially been about building up jobs based on making our own goods and services, and selling them abroad to create wealth. That is important and has been acknowledged, and I wish to acknowledge the acknowledgement.

The key point is that the domestic economy is flat. I put it to the Taoiseach that for the committee to meet only five times reflects a lack of urgency about the jobs issue generally within the system. To take the Government's capital programme, the problem with the budget and the Government's approach is that it has been watching the votes too much and everything has been electorally proofed to too great an extent.

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