Pearse Doherty (Sinn Fein)

It is particularly disappointing that yesterday's much-hyped announcements do not deal with the wider problems the economy faces. Instead, the Government has outlined an extremely limited plan which will not go very far in addressing the unprecedented shortfall in the public finances. Little detail was provided with regard to the Government's announcement that it is seeking to achieve €440 million in savings. How will the 3% cut in payroll costs be achieved by the various Departments and what impact will this have on service delivery? I carried out a quick calculation in respect of Donegal County Council and discovered that what is proposed will result in 40 positions either being lost or not being filled when they become vacant. Will it be our litter wardens, our planners or those who work on our roads who will be affected in this regard?

Assertions on the part of the Government that front-line services will not be affected by cutbacks is simply not credible in the absence of detailed data. Prior to yesterday's announcement, there was growing evidence of cuts in many public services — including those relating to health and education — which are already beginning to hurt the most vulnerable. The Government is trying to spin matters in such a way as to make people believe that these cuts will not affect the health services. The reality is, however, that patient care has been affected by cuts since last September when the HSE imposed a recruitment ban.

Hospital wards and units are being closed and services are being reduced or removed completely. In that context, one need only consider this week's announcement regarding what will happen at Letterkenny General Hospital. For the month of August, the hospital will lose 20 beds and day care services will be shut down. Other cuts are pending and they will be introduced by those who stated that they are trying to "stay within the budget".

It is becoming increasingly clear that further and more drastic cutbacks will form part of December's budget. It appears that, in dealing with the shortfall in the public finances, the only option under consideration is cutbacks in public spending. The Government is approaching the current economic and fiscal problems in a short-sighted manner. Measures to stamp out waste and inefficiencies are to be welcomed. However, we must ask why it took the Government so long to take action in this regard. Why were the waste and inefficiencies to which I refer not stamped out during the past ten or 11 years? However, Sinn Féin welcomes these measures and those relating to the tribunals and the use of consultants and public relations companies.

Sinn Féin has a clear idea with regard to what is needed. The Government must outline the measures it will introduce in the short term in order to stabilise the economy. In addition, it must put forward a medium-term recovery plan which should include mechanisms designed to help us regain competitiveness and retrain and upskill workers. Such a plan is particularly important in the context of counties such as Donegal, which, even before the current downturn, experienced levels of unemployment far in excess of the State average. In this regard, one need only consider the figures provided by the Central Statistics Office which show that from May of 2007 to May of this year, an additional 2,000 people were signing on for unemployment benefit in County Donegal. The most recent figures for May and June of this year indicate that there was a 10% increase in the numbers signing on in the county. That increase was far in excess of those relating to other counties.

The downturn cannot be used as an excuse for the State to, once again, turn its back on the west. It is absolutely crucial to the future viability of the region that social and infrastructural projects in the west — such as the dual carriageway to the north west and the western rail corridor — be committed to and progressed. Earlier today I attended a briefing in the Department of Transport at which I spoke to representatives of the NRA. I was informed that only certain sections of the Atlantic road corridor are to be completed by 2015. That is not true. It is indicated in Transport 21 that there would be a full and seamless upgrade of the Atlantic road corridor. Again, however, cuts are being introduced in respect of infrastructure in the west.

It is not the case that we will not be in a position to be competitive in the future or to ensure that much needed jobs are created in the region. However, we must invest in the infrastructure projects to which I refer. Pressing ahead with these projects and the schools building and social housing programmes will ensure the creation of much-needed employment as the dramatic downturn in the construction industry continues. The Government must outline clearly the action it intends to take in order to stem rising unemployment and ensure that new jobs will be created. A package of measures is needed to support the development of indigenous enterprise.

The Government must accept some of the blame for the extent of the problems we face. It ignored warnings regarding over-dependence on the construction sector and the implications this could have on the wider economy and public finances. One of the key lessons for the Government is that it must proactively plan for the future of the economy. Its claim that we are facing the current economic and fiscal challenges from a position of strength is blatantly untrue. Arguments to the effect that the fundamentals of the economy are sound do not stand up to scrutiny.

We must ensure that cutbacks in public services and the delaying or abandoning of many infrastructural projects do not come to pass because these will only result in the recession being prolonged. The Minister for Finance should come forward with a detailed plan to replace the three and a half page statement with which we were presented yesterday.