Maurice Cummins (Fine Gael)

I wish to share my time with Senator Ulick Burke. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Killeen, to the House. I congratulate him on his recent appointment and wish him well.

Costs in Ireland are out of line with those in other developed countries. This was confirmed by the National Competitiveness Council in its statement on costs and prices published last September. This is a confirmed fact, despite what Senator Leyden said.

What is the Government doing to reduce the costs to Irish industry and has it any plan to combat the haemorrhage of jobs currently evident in many parts of the country? My own constituency of Waterford saw live register figures rise by more than 1,000 last month. In Waterford city we have learned of 75 job losses at Kromberg and Schubert, another 70 jobs at Nypro and other job losses in the city and county. This is a matter of grave concern which needs to be addressed. I ask the Minister of State to set up a jobs task force in Waterford now or bring all the relevant agencies together to ensure this situation does not deteriorate any further.

When we speak of competitiveness, most people immediately talk about our wages and labour costs compared to those of other countries, where they are relatively low. This is a major factor, but we must always play to our strengths by developing new bases for competitive advantage. We must develop our innovation potential by removing barriers to competition and also develop our economic and technological infrastructure.

The risk of a further sharp decline in the value of the dollar against the euro also presents a growing threat to jobs in Ireland and to our competitiveness. Waterford Crystal and other similar companies are hit badly by the decline of the dollar against the euro and many people pray that the current trend will be reversed in the near future.

Large sections of our economy suffer from low levels of research and innovation. Limited sales and marketing capabilities have also resulted in low levels of productivity compared to those in other advanced economies. Raising our productivity through innovation will be the key to improving the nation's living standards in the coming years. Increased resources for scientific research are necessary and we need to ensure they are well targeted and support the needs of Irish industry.

The lack of proper infrastructure is crippling many parts of our country, stifling growth and blunting the competitive edge which is so vital in these times. In Waterford city, access is still one of the barriers which prevents the city from growing and realising its full potential. This has been the case in the past and unfortunately still continues to be so. The development of the N9 and the proposed motorway is way behind that of routes to the other major cities. The train journey time from Waterford to Dublin is the same as it was 30 or 40 years ago. The city's airport is operating without a PSO licence, which places it at a competitive disadvantage compared to other regional airports. The city has advanced considerably in the past decade but the poor infrastructure and access problems which beset us must be addressed and allow us to rise to the competitiveness challenge which faces Waterford and every part of the country.

Human capital has become increasingly important to economic performance. Human capital consists of the education and skills of a country's supply of labour, which has a key input into economic development. Any increase in the level of education and skills increases the quality of our labour input and boosts productivity and economic growth. The Minister for Education and Science should issue a considered response to the report of the task force on the physical sciences, setting out clearly the Government's policy on science education and awareness, including a progress report on implementation.

In order to reduce bureaucracy, requests to industry from Government agencies should be consolidated through the use of technology. The Government should increase the representation of small businesses on the company law review group to ensure the promotion of entrepreneurship and enterprise in general. I also urge the Minister of State to consider the Competition Authority study on banking services to small and medium-size enterprises in Ireland and take some action in this regard.

The up-skilling of those already in employment should be a priority in order to protect existing jobs. There are many areas of concern outlined in the recent report by the National Competitiveness Council and I ask the Minister of State to address them as a matter of urgency. If we are not competitive where costs are concerned, we are in for a rough time as a nation in the years ahead.