Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Political decisions have to be made to change that very situation. Does the Deputy think anyone involved in politics, of whatever party, is happy with the situation where 26 million people are out of work in the European Union? Does he think anyone in politics is happy that 6 million young people under the age of 25 are unemployed? The Deputy seems to think this can be suddenly changed by one of his financial instruments.

It requires fiscal discipline, putting people's houses in order and cutting out the waste.

We are part of a global pattern in this respect. There are 1 billion people on this planet who are obese. There are 1 billion people on this planet who are starving. There are 4.5 billion people in the middle sector and, for the first time in human history, dietary complications have passed out medical complications. There is an attitude and a culture problem in that respect as much as anything else. That is why this country has come through difficult periods and has had to make difficult decisions in recent years. That is why other countries within the European Union look at us and say we are making real progress. That is why Ireland's Presidency was able to get across the line the budget for the European Union of €960 billion. That is why we were able to hold on, because of our negotiations, to 97% of the moneys allocated under the Common Agricultural Policy. That is why the implication is we can see the future by making political decisions. In the past 12 months, 26,000 extra people in this country gained full-time permanent employment in the agrisector, and others in Europe see that. If we do not produce the food, somebody else in bigger countries with different scales, fewer standards and less competence will produce it and that will have complications, about which the Deputy has often spoken in the House, in terms of rain patterns, landslides and all the other implications of climate change.

Deputy Higgins knows he will not deal with the problem of 26 million people being unemployed unless he makes decisions to have economies that are growing where goods can be manufactured and sold and where food can be produced for people's livelihoods. We have the advantage, if we run our Union properly, of being one of the greatest trading blocs on the planet-----

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