Frances Fitzgerald (Fine Gael)

The Minister described the Irish banks as orphans who had nowhere to turn except to the Irish State and Government — what a description of our banks — and that this was a firefighting exercise to deal with an emergency situation. The implication was that the situation had verged towards catastrophe. We have dealt with one aspect of our economy, but there are other underlying problems which now need to be tackled and affect people directly.

The live register figures were published yesterday, and they tell a very dismal story, particularly for the thousands of people who have become unemployed in the past few months. Our unemployment rate is now higher than that in the United States, Great Britain, Japan, the Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Poland. We have a very serious situation on our hands. Since Deputy Brian Cowen became Taoiseach, 55,000 people have lost their jobs, and unemployment stands at 244,500 people, an increase of 9,400. These are extraordinary figures, and for the people facing unemployment and the 10,000 people who were working four weeks ago and have now lost their jobs, this is a traumatic time.

How does the Government plan to tackle unemployment? Where is the retraining programme? We have heard much about FÁS in recent weeks, not regarding retraining for the construction sector, but about their internal problems. I ask the Leader to ask the Minister responsible to come to this House on Tuesday for a debate on the unemployment figures, the initiatives and plans to tackle this problem and on our competitiveness. I note when Áine Kerr of the Irish Independent looked for comments from the Department last night, she was passed between the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, who initially said they would not comment, and the Department of Social and Family Affairs, who referred her back to the previous Department. I hope this is not how the unemployed will be dealt with. We need a comprehensive programme to deal with the serious unemployment rates we now face and we need action. I want a debate on the matter.

This is not a time for self-congratulation because of the legislation put through the Houses last night. This is the time to examine the serious underlying problem of unemployment that affects 244,000 people and is increasing at a dramatic rate of 10,000 every four weeks. Now is the time for action on this underlying problem and we need initiatives, a programme of action, retraining and to know who will be responsible for that retraining. I want the Minister to present his plan to us in this House on Tuesday next.