Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I refer to the Minister of State's charge about empty rhetoric. He should note that it is the people, our families and friends, voters and communities, who are being forced into unemployment and emigration. We take this issue very seriously and want to see the Government acting to promote job creation. On the point about cross-Border trade, IntertradeIreland is an outworking of the Good Friday Agreement, a cross-Border development body. However, there has been not one whit of development of cross-Border trade in recent years.

On Tuesday night I was in Dunshaughlin canvassing with my colleague, Darren O'Rourke. The overwhelming issues that came up, at door after door, were unemployment and emigration. In the two years the Government has been in office it is clear that the crisis engulfing the country has not lost its intensity. A total of 300,000 people remain unemployed, 60% of whom are now long-term unemployed. Youth unemployment is running at 27%. A total of 87,000 emigrated last year, the highest figure since the Famine period.

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