Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Everybody understands that as a result of the restructuring required in the banking sector - on a day like today I do not want to get into where the fault lies for what happened in the sector; that is a matter for another day - there will have to be reductions in the numbers working in Irish banks. The Deputy mentioned October and since October the Government has been working on what we need to do in order to generate new employment in the banking and financial services sector. That is why when we drew up the jobs actions plan, we targeted in particular the financial services industry as an area where we need to create additional jobs. The strategy we are pursuing is one of attracting investment into that sector. That is why we have been talking so much about the necessity for stability not only in our economy but around the euro and in the eurozone in order that new jobs can be created in that sector here.

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