Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The people I represent and the people who I want to have better public services, to have a good standard of living, who want their children to go to good schools and who I want to see living in good homes and having a better future in our country are the butcher, the street cleaner and the teacher, the people that the Deputies, in different ways, have referred to in their contributions. In order to ensure we have the resources and money we need to deliver for the needs they have and that I want to see met, a small economy of our scale located where it is must be open and competitive. Being open and competitive are the cornerstones of how we have built over decades an economy in which we see rising living standards. We still have many difficulties and many challenges to overcome, but we have seen the living standards of many people rise across that period. I believe we will see their living standards grow again in the future.

The views put forward by the Deputies, particularly the view put forward by Deputy Doherty, are a direct threat to the competitiveness of our country and our ability to attract and retain jobs. The proposals they are putting forward are a recipe for sending those jobs elsewhere. They are a recipe for losing jobs, losing investment and losing the type of multinational investment that I believe is critical to the success of our country. Why do I say that? Consider what is available in other countries. This is what other countries are doing; it is the scheme that France, Malta, the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal is offering. Deputies Doherty, Boyd Barrett and Barry would be happy to see the jobs that I want to see kept in Ireland moved to those countries. That is the consequence of the policies they are proposing.

I heard Deputy Doherty use the phrase "special people" and his tone and language dripped with contempt for them. The people we are referring to here earn far more than I or any Member of this House does, but they play a role in the creation of jobs, income and investment that, in turn, ensure more resources are available to help the butcher, the teacher and the street cleaner. It is those people I have in mind when I make the case for the retention of this scheme.

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