Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

Ar an gcéad dul síos, cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit. Tá an dífhostaíocht ag méadú. Cad atá á dhéanamh ag baill an Rialtais? Is dóigh liom nach bhfuil faic á dhéanamh acu. Níl aithne acu ar chathair Chorcaí. Tá méadú mór ar an dífhostaíocht sa chathair sin. If we take the starting point that the Minister of State and his colleagues have slaughtered the Celtic tiger and that the era is over, we might get some honesty.

If I can be parochial regarding Cork city, I ask the Minister of State to address core issues. In the Cork city social and family affairs office, there is a 45% increase in the number of under 25s signing on and in Cork county the increase is 60%. Unemployment has increased by 45.5% overall in Cork city, twice the national average and a worrying trend in our city. If the current trend in the unemployment rate continues, unemployment will be higher than when this Government took over from the rainbow Government in 1997. That is the legacy, Senator Ormonde, of eleven years of boom and bloom.