Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I support Senator Ryan's call for the Leader to invite the new Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to the House as soon as possible. I do not believe the majority of people realise how seriously we have lost our competitive edge. Unemployment blackspots are beginning to appear around the country, such as in Donegal where Fruit of the Loom has closed down and there is no alternative employment available. Our lack of competitiveness has put the continuation of some form of Celtic tiger in serious jeopardy.

A recent newspaper article revealed that Motorola had decided against locating its European finance unit in Cork despite IDA hopes to the contrary. We need to get our act together. We have spoken about it indirectly in the Seanad but we need to have a serious debate about our lack of competitiveness.