Alan Kelly (Labour)

I agree with what Senators Hannigan and Donohoe said about the impact on this country's competitiveness of the US interest rate changes that were announced last night. I will not repeat what they said. When I attended the Business and Finance awards last week, Mr. Niall FitzGerald, who won the outstanding achievement award, made the very good point that this country needs to get back to building real and sustainable businesses. Over the past ten years, there has been a fixation with trading rather than the actual building of real businesses. It is something we should bear in mind, particularly from the point of view of competitiveness. We need to encourage our graduates to create wealth by starting businesses in areas like renewable energy and business services. The information technology sector requires significant reinvestment. While many small and medium-sized enterprises are involved in information technology, they choke when it comes to developing into larger businesses that can compete across the water.

I hope the Government can address this real issue when it announces its recovery plan today or tomorrow. If it does not allow small businesses in the areas I have mentioned to develop and create wealth, our economic competitiveness will be in serious trouble. As I said on numerous occasions, this country's broadband capacity needs to be increased to a ridiculous degree. If the Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources does not get real on this issue, our competitiveness and our chances of creating jobs and wealth will be in serious trouble.

I agree with the comments of Senators about the democratic deficit in the HSE. I have called for the publication of the teamwork reports, particularly those dealing with the mid-west and the south, on at least four occasions. The reports in question, which deal with real issues in intensive care units, accident and emergency departments and acute beds, have been leaked left, right and centre, but they have not been published even though they were signed off last December.

It appears that the HSE will cut services in a number of regional hospitals and reorientate them towards centres in Limerick, Cork etc., which will have a real impact on rural areas and on towns such as Ennis, Nenagh, Bantry, Mallow and Tralee. These cuts have not been debated. The HSE is putting implementation teams into these areas without having a debate. It is not publicising the reports, yet it is implementing the recommendations. In any democracy that would be an absolute disgrace.