Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael)

He would have loved to have been on the steps of the Four Courts with lawyers brandishing sheaves of paper about the inability of the Government to make any progress. The Minister for Finance, on behalf of the Government, will continue the discussions about the remainder of the promissory notes involved.

I agree that the legacy of people unemployed in this country is much too high. The live register figures speak for themselves and are encouraging in respect of confidence returning. The Minister for Social Protection will deal with that issue later this afternoon. Of the more than 400,000 on the live register, the Deputy will be aware that significant numbers are working part time and that others who sign on for credits are not seeking work. A restructuring and clarification of the make-up of the register should be looked at, but that does not deal with the fact that far too many are unemployed. The reason the Government has set its face towards promoting business and opening doors to it is that it is part of the stimulus process in which we are involved. The Deputy will be aware of the Pathways to Work scheme introduced by the Minister for Social Protection and the JobBridge initiative, a fabulously successful scheme with more than 5,000 people working through it. He will also be aware of the Government using the National Pension Reserve Fund for loans in respect of significant engineering projects and infrastructural development which is important in the creation of jobs and the new attitude of the Department of Finance to be progressive in looking for further opportunities for investment from abroad, be it from pension funds or the European Investment Bank. This issue is under active consideration.

We are not satisfied with the extent of unemployment and want to take every opportunity to stimulate the indigenous economy. That is why in replying to Deputy Michéal Martin earlier I referred to mortgage interest relief, the reduction in stamp duty, the non-application of capital gains tax on commercial property after seven years and face to face discussions with the banks to get moving on the release of money, in respect of which they have been recapitalised for investment and loans. That is all part of the jobs agenda.

As Deputy Gerry Adams will also be aware, we published, with monitoring by my Department, the first quarterly report on the jobs action programme. It has 270 propositions to deal with in opening doors for businesses, in dealing with red tape, taxation issues, opportunities and incentives for employers to take on young people and in terms of how to get the message out that the country is open for business. That is part of the bigger picture because the next wave of investment will be for smaller enterprises which can meet the requirements and service needs of major companies which continue to invest here. I will repeat until the Deputy is sick of it that the tax system, the technology and the talent we have available and the track record of what we offer in this country are second to none and I do not want to see them damaged in any way. That is why, from that point of view, I hope the people will endorse the treaty strongly when they come to make that choice.

In response to Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, we discussed the question of the grievances of the people in the context of the challenge and enormous burden placed upon them in the economic circumstances in which we find ourselves. The German Chancellor is well aware of the scale of that challenge and anxious to help in every way possible. Even if we never had a fiscal stability treaty, we would have to put our own house in order. That is a fact of life people all over the country recognise. We are spending €16 billion more than we are taking in. I do not know whether people in the Deputy's cohorts who were in Galway or other places are prepared to write a cheque on behalf of the people and say to them, "Actually, you do not have to work for this at all because Boyd Barrett has come to the rescue." We are the only ones who can sort this out. Irish people, as the Deputy will appreciate, given the educational sphere from which he comes and his understanding of our history, have dealt with adversity before in a pragmatic fashion. When they are told the truth about the scale of the problem, they will say, "I want to help and sort this out" not in their own interests but in the interest of those who come behind them. We will have distinct advantages if we pull this together, as we are doing, and make progress. While the challenge is enormous, the reward will be worth it in the sense of having a country that is well run, with a thriving economy. Opportunities to make our talents available on a global scale are well worth following through.

I am heartened by the constant stream of queries from abroad about investment here and the constant energy of our own people in small and medium enterprises in the Deputy's constituency and all over the country who want to get out of this recession and to invest and employ people.

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