Feargal Quinn (Independent)

The quarterly national household survey was published yesterday, and it contains good news. The number of people working in Ireland in the final quarter of 2007 was 66,800 greater than in the previous year. We do not hear these figures often enough. There is major success in the economy. Yes, there were drops in construction jobs, but more jobs were created in services. I suggest that not just in these Houses but in the country as a whole we take a much more positive, forward-looking attitude to what is happening rather than talking ourselves into pessimism and recession.