Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have not concluded my remarks and I intend to address that matter. No one should deny or try to hide the fact that planeloads of people are emigrating. Let us get real. It was never going to be possible to replace upwards of 400,000 jobs overnight. Replacing those jobs was always going to take a few of years. However, it was still necessary for us to set out our plans and attempt to make serious inroads into dealing with the problem. Action Plan for Jobs is being driven forward by the Taoiseach, the Department and Forfás - Mr. Shanahan is doing a great job in this regard - in order that we might reduce unemployment levels. It is going to take three or four years to bring job creation numbers back up to previous levels and there is going to be emigration. As stated, we should never try to deny or hide that. It must be remembered, however, that an additional 58,000 people obtained employment in the past year. The figures have not been massaged in this regard and those people are occupying real extra jobs that have been created.

When one discusses this matter with people, all they want to be told is that there is hope for the country. The only way to prove there is such hope is to highlight the figures relating to net new jobs. Those figures prove we are making inroads. It will take a couple of years to address this matter but we must give people hope. Those in opposition can question what we are doing but they should not take away people's hope.

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