Arthur Spring (Kerry North-West Limerick, Labour) | Oireachtas source

They will not be spared by the time I am finished. I want to begin by quoting Mr. Stan McCarthy, who spoke yesterday in regard to the announcement of 900 jobs. Things are not so good in Kerry that we can give jobs to Kildare, despite what some might think.

He said the future for agriculture looks bright. He also said in response to a question about what had happened in recent years that the agrifood sector must have got lost in translation because it did not get the same amount of emphasis behind it. I have been trying to translate that. It meant that people became obsessed with property rather than progress. One could point straight across the floor and say to people that they did not have an idea of how to run an economy in a prudent and meaningful way. Every step of the way since we have ended up with this deficit, and when faced with the budgetary measures we have had to introduce, Fianna Fáil is not willing to get behind them and support them. It will not support any tax cuts or tax increases. Fianna Fáil members are turning to the people of the country and saying they are now their saviours but that will not wash with anyone. There is an awful long time of salvation involved. The important thing to remember is what agriculture does for rural areas and the country in general.

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