Michael McCarthy (Labour)

Senator O'Toole is correct. The Order of Business in this House is an excellent system that allows Members on all sides to raise issues of national and local significance. The issue of the marine radio stations in Malin and Valencia, for example, was raised by all Members on the Order of Business. The welcome decision by the Government to do a U-turn on that issue was due in no small part to the fact that it was debated at length in this House. We should be very careful, therefore, about preserving the Order of Business.

Unemployment figures are alarming and are deteriorating on a weekly basis. Unfortunately, they will further deteriorate in the new year, not least because of the downturn in the construction industry. During the good times, when huge amounts of money were available to people who were willing to work in construction, young people decided to work on building sites rather than enter third level education. Unfortunately, these people, who were lured by well paid employment, now find themselves in dole queues. It is time that we discussed reorganising the schemes that are available to people in those circumstances. The back-to-education allowance, for example, is one such scheme that needs to be changed to reflect the current economic crisis. In light of the downturn in the construction industry, it is unacceptable that any scheme would operate on the same basis as it did during the Celtic tiger.

I call for a debate on the role of the job creation agencies, particularly IDA Ireland, which is not promoting employment outside the large urban centres. Recently it pulled jobs out of one town in Cork and put them into another. Given IDA Ireland's remit of encouraging job creation, particularly in rural areas, it is a disgrace that an agency that should be executing Government policy is moving jobs from one town to another. That is completely unacceptable.

I ask the Leader to arrange for the Minister for Defence to attend the House to outline his plans for the refloating of the Asgard II. That vessel sank to the bottom of the Bay of Biscay three months ago and the Minister has not yet made a decision on refloating it.