Unemployment is steadily on the increase month by month. There have been cutbacks in the already crisis ridden health service. The chief executive officer and board of the Western Health Board have been told by the Minister for Health and Children that they must immediately shed 180 jobs. This job surgery will impact across the entire range of services with obvious consequences for the already hard hit patient services. It is not just the health budget that is being hit. Every Minister has been told by the Minister for Finance that savings must be made in each Department. The consequences are obvious. If we cut back spending we cut back services. The implications for key infrastructural projects and the national development plan are obvious.