Ivor Callely (Fianna Fail)

I welcome my good friend and colleague, the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Billy Kelleher, to the House. One of the fundamental indicators of our economy is the level of employment. The most recent data available from the Central Statistics Office indicate employment has increased by 7,000 in the past 12 months, to a total number of people at work of more than 2.1 million.

When one reflects on the transformation of this great country over the past decade, one of the greatest dividends of the transformation is the number of people at work. I listened to what Senator O'Reilly had to say with regard to the live register. He indicated the percentage of people on the register was the percentage of people unemployed. The total number of people on the live register is around 240,000 but, as we all know, the live register is not a true reflection of unemployment, as it includes part-time, seasonal and casual workers. However, what is noticeable is the acute increase in the number of people signing on. This is a source of concern.

Our economic performance in recent years reflects Government policies and investments and, more importantly, the commitment of our citizens, their education, their skills, their ability and their determination to meet the challenges and opportunities with which they are presented. Through their hard work, innovation and success, Ireland has been established as a sound and vibrant economy energised by some of the most sophisticated industries and services in the world — as mentioned by the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher — along with a strong entrepreneurial flair driving small and medium enterprises in every region. Some argue that we have not made enough of this success. I disagree. Ireland has proved to be a good place to do business and we have achieved success beyond our measure. We have been the European success story in recent years.

We are now well aware of the uncertainty in the international economic environment and of the fact that our economy faces tough times ahead. There are serious challenges to address. No one underestimates the scale of the challenges that face us. We are in uncharted economic territory and there are no easy solutions or quick fixes. The greatest challenge right now is to manage the economy through these uncertain times, to take the correct decisive actions to protect the progress we have made and to prepare to benefit from the upturn when it comes. We all need to sign up to the measures required to meet the challenge ahead, or we will lose our unity of purpose to improve the quality of life for all and our sense of national purpose. There will be no agreement on what we are trying to achieve, and perhaps the most worrying change would be increasing negativity and disillusionment and a further lack of confidence. We all need to take stock, think realistically, reorganise and reposition ourselves.

One of our priorities must be to re-establish that unique Irish confidence, create a positive climate, lift the uncertainty, doubt and anxiety, and rebuild a sense of national pride. In the 1990s there was an air of achievement. There was real progress and development and nothing seemed impossible to achieve. Above all, there was a great national spirit and pride in what was being done and what was being achieved. We had built a great team with all the players signed in. We enjoyed success for so many years and reaped great benefits and gains for all.

As a small island nation, we are vulnerable to economic shocks beyond our shores. The collapse of the global economy has taken us all by surprise. The result of this economic collapse has had a ripple effect on every region and every family on our island. One of the results has been a sharp rise in unemployment, coming from a base of nearly full employment in which an additional 1,000 new jobs were created every week over a number of years. I ask the Minister of State and his colleague the Tánaiste to spell out the proactive range of measures, job-related services, supports and training programmes that are being provided to help any individual or family facing unemployment. FÁS, the national training and employment authority, provides a range of such services and has introduced some new schemes to address emerging trends, as mentioned by the Minister of State. However, I ask the Minister of State to explain the barometer used to measure the success or otherwise of such agencies in addressing emerging trends satisfactorily and the speed of response. We must ensure that the systems, services, training and supports put in place by FÁS and Skillnets represent an adequate response to all such emerging trends and continue to harness the collective skills and talents of our workforce.

In the modern high-tech world in which we live, education and training is more vital than ever. We must expand our investment to ensure that those who experience unemployment are fully capable of adapting to new challenges and emerging opportunities. The Government needs to set pragmatic targets to encourage greater participation in lifelong learning by involving people and facilitating them in increasing their skill levels and qualifications. Lifelong learning is an important key to our success and in ensuring that we remain one of the world's competitive economies. I am encouraged by the determination of the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, the Tánaiste, Deputy Coughlan, and their colleagues to create and develop the conditions to foster enterprise and business growth despite the current global turbulence. I congratulate the ministerial team at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, the departmental officials and the various agencies, especially IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, on their success in encouraging the development of world-class Irish companies and the strong position we now hold in the global markets. The Minister, Deputy Coughlan, is strongly of the view that a vital ingredient in our future prosperity will be the development and growth of Irish-owned companies. Her vision can be realised if the challenges faced, especially by small and medium enterprises, are met head on.

I am pleased to note certain measures are in place to encourage the emergence of new businesses and to facilitate long-term business survival. One of these actions is the adoption of new strategies to support the enterprise sector. As we know, SMEs make a major contribution to the economy. A special focus and supports are now warranted in this area, especially due to the changed economic realities compounded by the international credit crisis. It is generally agreed that SMEs tend to be more flexible and responsive to changing economic circumstances and are crucial in providing employment opportunities. It is not said often enough that it is absolutely essential that SMEs have all the required supports to assist them in addressing the emerging challenges. One crucial issue for SMEs is funding, as mentioned by the Minister of State before he went on to talk about employment and increasing skills and qualifications. It is important for SMEs that the required finance be made available by the banks to keep all systems operating. One of my reasons for supporting the recent Government action of the bail-out scheme for our financial institutions was the aim of ensuring that the banks could retain their deposit accounts and access to international credit lines.

In a recent research paper on the financial stability of the Irish banking sector, reference number 2008/4313, July 2008, a number of interesting statistics were presented. The paper states that the most significant economic impact made by the banking sector is that it provides the capital necessary for business to function and to make investment for expansion. We all know that so why say it, especially if we sign up to the fact that the significant role of the banking sector is imperative. We should sign up to it especially for the small and medium enterprises.

I wish to draw the attention of the House and the Minister of State to certain bank practices that may require a level of accommodation and from the information available to me may need urgent address. In the interest of any declaration of self-interest, I should point out that I have a level of activity with some such banking groups. A typical situation that has been brought to my attention by more than one source is where an entrepreneur has obtained finance for a project, agreements reached on interest and pay back and the product produced — the ideal being profit for both the bank and entrepreneur, and economic gain for all. I now understand the banks are adopting a tighter lending policy particularly noticeable after the bank bailout and such policies are a source of grave concern even for the proven and successful entrepreneurs. This is not my understanding of the fundamental and significant role that the banking sector is expected to provide, especially if its lending policies and practices stagnate growth and-or cause businesses to collapse with the reality of a further detrimental impact on employment.

The Minister of State referred to the great numbers — we all know what happened in the construction sector——