Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Both the Taoiseach and I made it very clear that we have made progress, we have stabilised the economy and we are seeing some growth return to the economy. In the last quarter of last year we saw an increase, for the first time since 2007, in the number of people at work, but we are not going to exaggerate that. There is a great deal more to do to get the jobs we need in order that people do not have to emigrate and those who have can return. I assure Deputy Tóibín and the House that this is the Government's focus. Now that we have stabilised the economic situation and the very difficult set of economic circumstances we inherited a year ago, we are working on recovery for this country and on getting employment and investment back into it. That is why we need to assure investors that there is stability in Ireland, Europe and the eurozone.

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