Derek McDowell (Labour)

We must get the balance right. We could start by having a decent, honest debate about it rather than suggesting rip-off Ireland is a phenomenon that exists purely on one side of the equation, as it were. With regard to free trade within Europe, we must complete the Single Market. Commissioner McCreevy should be supported in implementing the services directive but he must have due and proper regard, more than he has demonstrated so far, to maintaining decent standards of employment in the countries where services are being traded.

Let us not kid ourselves that this will do the job. Whereas it was fair enough to say 15 years ago that a Single Market and competition within Europe was sufficient, we must now look far beyond the boundaries of Europe. Much of our competition now and 15% of our manufactured goods imports come from China and India in the Far East. Are we ready for free trade with China and India? I am not an ideologue on these issues. I do not believe, as Commissioner McCreevy clearly does, that free trade is necessarily and always a good thing. If one opened the floodgates in the morning, one would flush out a huge number of Irish and European jobs.

This issue must be tackled sensitively. It will quite rightly take time. There are industries, for example, clothing manufacturing, where we simply cannot compete and those jobs and industries are now gone from our shores. However, we could lose far more of the Irish and European economies to China and India if we do not retain some protective measures between now and 30 or 40 years hence. Festina lente on this. It is all very well to claim free trade is good and these countries provide consumers as well as competition but we must be careful. Our primary duty must be to our own people.

I wish to express a view on some of the matters that arose during the debate, one of which is broadband. This touches on an interesting issue, that is, the role of competition in a very small economy such as Ireland. The issue is well pointed up, for example, in the area of electricity supply. We are being told by the electricity regulator, and one supposes by the Government, that in order to get the level of competition they deem desirable we must increase prices, both to consumers and to industry and business, in order bring in other players into the market to compete with ESB, which was doing quite a good job to start with.

There is a somewhat similar aspect to the broadband argument. I acknowledge the argument about local loop unbundling and I am just about persuaded that Eircom should go that road,——