John Paul Phelan (Fine Gael)

I support Senator O'Donovan's call for a debate on fisheries. A review of the Common Fisheries Policy is under way at present. It would be useful to invite the Commissioner to the House to discuss the serious issues facing our fishing industry. I hope the Leader will be able to accommodate the Senator's call for that debate.

I agree with my colleagues who raised the ESRI report and the startling headline on the airways this morning that Ireland is facing the biggest decline in its economy of any developed country since the 1930s. That is a clear indicator that international factors are at play here, as they are everywhere else in the world, but also that major domestic issues have contributed to the position we are in. The prospect of 17% unemployment in the near future is shocking.

Government Members spoke earlier about the ground shifting quickly. In terms of tax revenues, the supplementary budget three weeks ago is now projected to be out by €1.3 billion. That would indicate the ground is shifting very quickly but in the week before the last election the then Minister for Finance, Deputy Cowen, made an impassioned plea for the general public to trust him - "Trust us" was one of the phrases he used - in terms of running the economy. That trust has been misplaced and people are very angry and upset about the abuse of that trust by this Government in the past few years.

Members opposite referred to the fact we have had a number of debates on the economy. Most of the debates we have had on the economy recently were by way of Opposition Private Members' business. There has been a continuous array of debates on the economy from all the groups on this side of the House with regard to Private Members' business.

Strong internal divisions are emerging within the Government-----