Jim Glennon (Dublin North, Fianna Fail)
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In my earlier contribution I took issue with some points raised by the Opposition and I will continue in that vein. Deputy Burton referred to a necklace of large towns around west Dublin, naming some of them. I am interested in her sense of direction because one of the towns referred to was Balbriggan. The people of Balbriggan will be interested to know how the Labour Party sees their place in the greater Dublin area. When I left home this morning, they were still 20 miles due north of Dublin. When I go home this evening, please God, they will still be there unless the Labour Party has suddenly decided to shift them.

One point of Deputy Burton's that I took particular issue with was her reference to an alleged imbalance and deficit in infrastructure in west Dublin. She referred to the coastal area of Dublin as the gold coast, a place where ordinary people do not live as they only live in west Dublin. I take severe exception to that on behalf of my constituents and a large proportion of the people of Dublin. The Dublin North constituency has the same infrastructural difficulties that people in west Dublin have. The only difference is that we have been living with them longer. I reject any innuendo that those of us in north Dublin live in leafy suburbs, having an easy time of it. That is not the case. I invite Deputy Burton to north County Dublin to travel into Dublin city by train early in the morning with commuters. She will find a situation similar to that in her area.

The increase in employment by 90,000 is by any definition staggering. This is way ahead of the high growth figures of the 1990s. A particularly interesting aspect of it is that the number of female workers increased by 6.2% whereas the number of male workers increased by only4.2%. For every five people entering the workforce, three are female. That is a notable change, probably an historical shift.

I congratulate the Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, and his predecessor Mr. McCreevy on their handling of the economy since taking office. It is one of the great truisms of Irish politics that Fianna Fáil in Government means a strong economy and that has been borne out by the performance in recent years.

I also congratulate Deputy Connolly for attending today's debate when the established parties around him appear to believe it is not worth participating in. That reflects badly on them. I have already commented on their lack of constructive contribution to the debate. We never claimed on this side of the House to have a monopoly of wisdom but from some of the contributions this morning we are beginning to doubt ourselves. It appears the main Opposition parties have taken my words to heart and have decided to opt out completely.

It may be a trivial point but I emphasise the importance of the reduction in the average working week. It is down from 37 to 36.9 hours and I hope that is an indication of a trend to come. I wish to develop this issue and I will do so outside the Chamber as well. It is important to strike a balance between work life and social life within a working week. I have heard much recently about the time commuters spend commuting. It is an unfortunate by-product of the success of our economy and the Government is trying to deal with it. As a Dublin Deputy I would be interested to see figures for the average working week for somebody in the greater Dublin area and compare them to those of somebody in, for example, Deputy Connolly's constituency of Cavan-Monaghan or somewhere on the western seaboard. It would make for interesting reading and I will ask the CSO today for a breakdown.

At the risk of boring the audience, I am disappointed by the complete absence of Members of the established Opposition parties from the Chamber for this discussion. It is indicative of their bankruptcy of ideas. Their performance this morning in the earlier part of this debate, taken in tandem with their absence now, makes it entirely appropriate that they should be absent for the remainder of the debate.

Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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It is a lonely spot at the moment, but perhaps the fact that I am the only Opposition Deputy here at the moment shows the trust my Opposition colleagues have in me.

This debate is important. It is important to look at where we are going and to take stock of our changing demographics. In my own constituency there have been changes in the form of new housing, among other things. The population is increasing but not at the same rapid rate as in other areas.

The quarterly national household survey for the second quarter of 2005 states that our population is growing at the fastest rate in Europe, with an influx of 70,000 immigrants in the past year alone. One of the major changes people have noticed is the number of foreign people they see around. Some 70,000, dispersed throughout the country, is a substantial number and is adding to our population. There was an outflow of 16,600 emigrants, the lowest since records began in 1987. I was surprised we did not have records until then of people leaving and coming into our country. It is important to keep such statistics.

The natural increase, measuring births minus deaths, was 35,500 for the 12 months to April 2005, more than double the level of 2004. Combining the natural increase and migration with a population increase of 87,000, or 2.2%, gives 4.13 million, the largest population in more than 150 years. This trend has not finished and the population will continue to grow for some time. More than 38% of emigrants were from the ten EU accession countries who joined on 1 May 2004. Of these, 17% were from Poland and 9% from Lithuania.

The labour force is just over 2,014,000, exceeding 2 million for the first time in the State's history, having grown by 94,500 in the past year. Numbers in employment have also grown, by 90,000, to reach 1.9 million. Construction, financial and other business services have shown the strongest growth. Growth has largely been driven by the construction industry. That is normally the case as cranes in the sky are associated with growth and good times. There is a major question mark over whether this can be sustained in the longer term but people have been questioning it for several years. There will always be pessimists who say the bubble is about to burst but it looks like it will continue for another while.

Agriculture and fishing have continued to register declines, their workforce reducing by over 3,000 while manufacturing employment declined by over 6,000. It is regrettable that these traditional aspects of life are declining and shows that rural life and life in general is changing in Ireland. Crippling increases in energy costs and waste management have contributed in no small way to this state of affairs. Steady economic growth can be maintained only when there is a strong export manufacturing sector and the decline in this area is worrying. Everybody knows that to make real money a country must export its goods. It is a major part of our economy and it is important we continue to take money into the country by this means.

Migration has been one of the dominant factors in our economic history. It accounts for more than two thirds of this year's demographic increase. In the past 200 years our economic history has been affected by emigration. Emigrants' remittances were a major heading in the statement of our national income. We all have some memory of receiving the cheque, the dollars or the pounds that drove our economy in the 1940s and 1950s when there was no money in the country. It was significant and I am not sure those people who pumped that money back got the recognition they deserved. There are people living in various cities throughout the world, particularly in England, in poor conditions. We should do the honourable thing and make it attractive for those people to come back. They lived lonely lives in exile and were important in keeping our economy going. It should now be acknowledged.

The past 15 years have witnessed a marked change in the pattern of Irish emigration and we have experienced positive net immigration since 1991. Initially this was due to large inflows of returning Irish emigrants attracted by improved conditions in the Irish labour market. We can recall that during the 1970s and 1980s, classes of our best-educated people took the boat or plane and left the country. We spent much money putting these people through the education system and essentially educated them for other countries throughout the world. That pattern changed around 1991, which is a good thing, and I hope we never regress to sending the brightest graduates we have out of the country.

Since the late 1990s, however, immigrant inflows have been made up of declining numbers of returning migrants and increasing numbers of foreign-born migrants. A considerable proportion of foreign-born arrivals now consist of immigrants with no prior ties to Ireland. Increasing numbers come from non-English speaking countries. When the Irish went abroad they would form groups and one can see similar dynamics occurring with many foreign nationals in the country. Prior to this transformation of Irish migration, immigration policy did not concern us unduly, with principal attention focused on US treatment of undocumented Irish emigrants since 1968. It appears that Ireland now faces the same challenges as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other EU partners.

The economic experiences of countries, such as the Celtic tiger economy beginning in the mid-1990s, can shape the size and composition of immigrant inflows. Analysis of past immigrant inflows can tell us much about where migration pressure is likely to be most intense as well as the likely composition of flows over time. The broadening of migration into Ireland will have longer-term implications for demographic trends. While the absolute number of immigrants to Ireland is small, these people are likely to form the beginning of a chain of further potential migrants from their home countries.

The arrival of the first generation of economic migrants into Ireland is likely to be followed by further migration for the purposes of family reunification. I come across this situation regularly, where people have arrived in Ireland trying to shape their life, set up home and get the basics of our language. Eventually, they will make efforts to get their families to join them. This occurred in the health services when people received work visas to come on their own. Thankfully, the spouses or partners of such people can now accompany them. This pattern suggests that we will continue to have inflows into the country and the population will increase as a result.

Skills distribution of the immigrant population and overall conditions in the economy are likely to be further affected by migratory trends. It is odd that highly qualified people, such as doctors, teachers and engineers, come to our country but cannot get into the mainstream and are unable to use their qualifications. These people are needed and as our economy is growing, there is a demand for this type of labour. I would like to see the situation change.

Immigration can add fresh unskilled workers to an aging population but are unlikely to have a major impact on the sustainability of the welfare state. The experience of the trebling of mainly and disproportionately young inflows into Canada over the past 50 years has merely reduced the country's over-65 population by 5%. Immigrants can also fill economic requirements not met by the native labour force, filling occupations in which domestic workers are in short supply. However, in a general sense Ireland has not yet become a major pole of attraction for non-EU migrants.

Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I am glad to acknowledge the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, whose work I am always happy to admire and who is a great help to all Members. I heard Deputy Glennon lamenting the absence of colleagues on the Opposition benches so I am glad to see and appreciate so many bright and rising stars attending for my speech.

John Deasy (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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And those of others.

Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I hold the most marginal seat in the country so I would appreciate if I was not picked on.

Paudge Connolly (Cavan-Monaghan, Independent)
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Do not forget Tallaght.

Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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I have heard other colleagues talk about their towns and cities, so I will speak about Tallaght for a few minutes. Like Deputy Glennon, I listened to the earlier contributions and could not figure out if I was living in the same country. I live in Tallaght and represent Dublin South-West, which embraces Tallaght, Brittas, Firhouse, Templeogue and Greenhills. I live in a positive place.

Up to 15 years ago we often spoke of Tallaght, which now has the third largest population centre in the country, as having the population of a city but the status of a village. That changed on 23 October 1990, 15 years ago next Sunday, when the Square was opened by the former Taoiseach, Charles Haughey. That was a great day and positive occasion for Tallaght. Since then, Tallaght has developed and I invite anybody to take the Luas with me out there any day. Deputy Glennon mentioned Deputy Burton and she is welcome also. Any of my colleagues can visit Tallaght to see how positive a place it is. One can see the council headquarters, Tallaght Hospital and many other facilities that one would expect in a major population centre. One can see how progressive the local institute of technology is and how well the Luas works. If one stands in the Square, as I do most days, one can see 20 cranes nestling in the town centre lands.

It is difficult for me to come into this House to hear so much negative talk about our country and this city. I do not suggest that people do not have an entitlement to make political points. Ireland has changed and my community has changed. I speak as someone who, like my father and grandfather, emigrated. I took the boat to London and was happy over there. I may not have come back and my history may have been completely different had I not become homesick. When I returned I moved to Tallaght with an employer, became involved in community work and I am now a Deputy. It is good, as Deputy Connolly stated, that this is now possible.

Deputy Connolly also made a fine point regarding Ireland being a country of welcomes. There are concerns surrounding the care of returning emigrants, and I often raise in my Dáil business issues about returning Irish people and the Irish abroad. We should be loyal to these people. However, we must understand how our country is seen abroad. I do not get away as often as most but I have been to Ukraine and China recently. It is amazing to see the image that Dublin and the country as a whole has abroad. People see Ireland now as a leading player and a very rich country. One will hear returning people, be they in Meath, Cork, Monaghan, Clare or north Dublin but especially those who have not been in the country for a while, speak of Ireland in positive terms. I have had much experience of this in Tallaght. They speak of the progress that is afoot.

Whatever about the need to make political points, we should be brave enough to admit that our country is doing well and that much progress has been made. If one looks at the history of my community in the 15 years since the Square opened, much has been done, and I am proud of the achievement.

This does bring about challenges. Colleagues made the point about the need to look at ordered development. My community is no different in this regard, and challenges exist there on issues such as infrastructure. We still need new roads. I hope Green Party Deputies will not contend this——

Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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What other Green Party Deputies are here?

Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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——but we need the further development and extension of the Luas. I am confident that this will happen as the Luas is a tremendous service taking us into the city centre. It now must go through the west Tallaght estates of Fettercairn and Brookfield and out into Saggart and Rathcoole. One will be able, in time, to access Tallaght through public transport in Dublin by getting the DART to Connolly Station and going to Heuston. Even our country cousins will be able to go to Tallaght and Citywest, and it is important that this is stated.

Community and school facilities also provide a challenge. I am again being parochial. We have great schools in my constituency and there is certainly a need for more schools. We need to look at the major population centres cropping up, such as those in Ballycullen, Westbrook and in the estates of west Tallaght. I hope Ministers listen to this debate, accept the points made and understand the need to develop infrastructure and facilities. I do not suggest that my constituency is unique in that respect, but it has those problems.

We have a very young population in Tallaght, with about 30,000 people still in school. We need to look at how we will deal with them as they exit the education system looking for jobs. Everyone in the House has his or her own priorities in that regard, but as Tallaght is the third largest population centre in the country, I am entitled to make a case for its job creation needs. We need to realise that many well qualified, highly educated young people will come from our communities in the next few years. There is much talk about other parts of the country and I will never criticise that. I have listened to the debate today about Shannon and the west of Ireland. However, there are also challenges in the east and we need to ensure that we cater for those in centres where jobs have been lost. By the way, I am not just talking about my constituent Brian Kerr, even though I am very upset that he has lost his job. I hoped someone would put down an emergency motion to deal with that issue, so that I could speak on it.

I want to be positive about the survey that is before us. It is good that we have this debate and I hope it is taken seriously across the House. It is important to emphasise what is positive about our country and our communities, while identifying difficulties. I hope the debate about migrant workers is developed responsibly. I contributed to the debate last week and I know the Minister took account of the different points made. It is important to understand the challenge posed by what is now an international community. Some Deputies will have noticed that last Saturday's magazine in The Irish Times highlighted my local school in Springfield, Tallaght, which now has a very large international community. That brings it owns challenges.

Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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I value the opportunity to contribute to this debate. It is obvious the Government has allowed this debate to give it an opportunity to talk up its own performance by using figures that reflect well on its policies. In doing so, the Government has opened up the risk of straying into the territory of statistics, damned statistics and lies. The use of statistics as a cold instrument only tells us so much about the nature of the society in which we live. It is undoubtedly true that Ireland is changing significantly and we need to manage that change. However, these statistics do not show the whole picture of the nature of life in Ireland these days. Even taken as measurements of economic success, they are undermined by a fair degree of analysis that shows they are not as effective as the Government claims. The Minister for Finance spoke recently of the 95,000 extra jobs that appeared in the economy in the past year alone. Yet 95,000 people have not yet come within the tax net, indicating that the jobs provided pay around the minimum wage. It is quite likely that many of these jobs are part-time, or are subject to short term contracts and more likely to be filled by women rather than men.

On a social level, we need better measurements to figure out whether these are useful statistics. The Taoiseach seems to have taken an interest in the notion of social capital and the works of Mr. Robert Putnam. If he is serious about what is contained in such works, there is an onus on him and the Government to present better information to this House and to society as to what exactly is meant by social capital. How is it measured? To what extent is it valuable? Can we use it to find out if we are an improving society? As a member of the Green Party, I feel the statistics should be examined in a more holistic sense to gauge the sustainability of the society in which we live. In recent years, we started to introduce national environmental accounts, but they are examined in isolation by the few who are interested in their relevance and how they might be used to inform public policy.

What about the physical change in our society? If we took advantage of the Government jet, flew over the country and took an aerial photograph, the mess of our national spatial strategy would be all too apparent. Examples include the overloaded eastern seaboard, the under populated western seaboard and the fact that in the living of their everyday lives, people do not feel better off for being better off. These are failures of the Government and are not, as its members keep suggesting, the consequences of success. It is the failure to plan effectively in the past for which we are now paying a price. We will continue to pay a price for it unless the Government is able to put in place effective measures so that we can enjoy a good quality of life here. I fear that such far-sightedness is lacking in this Government because we are caught up in an electoral cycle where people do not think beyond the next election.

However, there are issues on which we should take a consensual approach, such as the social as well as the economic effects of the use of fossil fuels. We should take a ten, 20 or even 50 year approach to such issues, but the Government is not prepared to think in such terms due to its own political needs. Even though we have come to terms with the existence and the use of oil in our society, the social cost being paid by the poor and the elderly is due to a lack of proper planning, which is regrettable.

Future debates should be more rounded and not have such a self-congratulatory tone. It would be more to the benefit of the House and the people we serve if that was the case.

Tony Killeen (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputies for their contributions. This has been an important debate, not least because population and migration are not issues we consider every day. These CSO figures show Ireland at a turning point. They also give us cause to reflect on how we should build a sustainable future for both citizens and business. I am not convinced that it is useful in this context to distinguish between the concept of society and of economy. In reality, both are intertwined as society benefits from sound and fair economic policies. Some Deputies are concerned about planning for skill shortages. We have recently sanctioned €27 million in funding for FÁS, for the expansion of training for people in employment. Moreover, the expert group on future skills will assist us with its analysis in planning for the future, particularly in respect of the higher skills area. The population and employment figures give us cause to reflect on the future.

I want to describe some of our strategies for future prosperity and to outline where I believe the sources of our competitive advantages will lie in future years. Education has always played a vital role in the broad cultural, social and economic life of this country. We no longer simply compete for capital and investment but are now competing for people and knowledge. Governments around the world are wrestling with these challenges where the geography of science and knowledge knows no boundaries. I believe the development of the knowledge economy and the factors that will underpin it to be one of the major challenges and opportunities facing Ireland. The task of making our vision a reality requires investment. The Government will lead that investment and ensure that within the next decade, Ireland becomes an internationally renowned centre for research which generates and uses new knowledge for social progress.

The transformation revealed by these figures shows we have provided all our citizens with the opportunity to live and work here and emigration is no longer a necessity. Growth and prosperity have provided the country with a new-found confidence, while enterprise has the capacity to invest for the future and the confidence to be less risk averse. The latest 12 month employment figures show that in the year to May, the economy created a further 93,000 jobs. This is the highest annual growth rate in five years, while unemployment is less than half the EU average. Long-term unemployment has been reduced by 70%. Cautious management of success has sustained and will sustain our ability to make sustainable growth achievable.

The long period of prosperity has helped society. Life chances have consistently improved as growth has opened more varied opportunities for disadvantaged and vulnerable groups in many different aspects of the country. Indeed, work continues in this respect. This morning, I had the pleasure of launching a report by the National Economic and Social Forum on allowing access to the workplace to people who hitherto have been disadvantaged. We have recommendations with regard to the forum on the workplace of the future and I am delighted to chair the high level group which will try to ensure we build on the enormous successes achieved over the last ten to 15 years and that in so doing, we manage to include all participants in society.

Sometimes it is important to pause momentarily to reflect on what one is doing correctly. One hears enough about what one is supposed to be doing wrongly. We can be justly proud of the achievements over the past decade. There is no greater indicator of success than being a sought-after location in which to work and live. The total migration flow to Ireland in the 12 months to April 2005 is estimated to be 70,000, the highest figure on record since migration estimates began in 1987. As a corollary, emigration is at its lowest since then.

The challenge now is one of preparing for the prosperity of the next generation and to manage the transformation of our economy through that process. As always, this demands hard choices, as we must simultaneously seek to further improve the life chances for all our citizens, not simply those in employment. From the Government's perspective, a successful society needs a dynamic economy, which constantly responds to the evolving demands of international competitiveness. We have proved that we can meet this challenge and intend to continue to do so.