Cecilia Keaveney (Fianna Fail)

I ask the Leader to arrange for a debate on entrepreneurship. This country is full of people who have great ideas. Some of them lost their jobs recently. All of them have a work ethic and are dependable, traits that attracted businesses to invest here. People here have a good work ethic, getting up in the morning and working 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. We must find mechanisms to take on the people who lose their jobs to ensure they retain their spirit, work ethic and "can do" attitude.

It would be helpful if the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment came to the House to discuss what specific measures can be introduced to foster entrepreneurship. Such measures would create new industries and opportunities for those who have lost or will lose their jobs. In these economically straitened times good ideas come out of the woodwork, but we need then to be able to rush in and give the necessary supports to those people to make their dreams become reality, which would involve their becoming employers, not employees. Of all the people who should know that, it is the people of Donegal who rose up after the loss of Fruit of the Loom. Many of them went on to become employers, not employees, post that disastrous loss for the county.

I ask the Leader to provide an opportunity for us to exchange views with the Tánaiste on that issue. A parochial issue for the people from Donegal was the loss of Fruit of the Loom to another country with cheaper production lines. Yet we are losing Boston Scientific to Galway. With respect to the people of Galway, I would like an answer as to why Galway is more competitive than Letterkenny for those particular jobs. I would like the opportunity to go through the issues that seemingly have made the north west less competitive.

I ask that we take on board the issue currently being before the Joint Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment, which is examining the reasons for the price differential in products between the North and the South. I raised the issue of Translink here prior to Christmas. If one buys one's ticket in Dublin, it will cost €52 return, but if one buys it in Belfast it will cost £36 sterling, which is an exchange rate of 69 cent to the sterling £1. That is completely wrong for a co-financed European "hands across the Border" project. We have to get the message out loud and clear to consumers that they have to stand up and reject such exploitation. It would be useful if we could take on the issues in this House that are being dealt with in that committee and explore further the factors that are making us less competitive. We have to get the message out to retailers, suppliers or whoever is causing the problem that we will not stand over the exploitation of the consumer.