Liam Twomey (Fine Gael)

I accept that Senator Callely likes to make light of the issue that Irish people are losing their jobs at a rate of 13,000 per month. Businesses in Ireland can do jobs for local authorities and State bodies and the contracts are being given to companies in Europe that are entitled to apply for them. They are getting these contracts even though Irish businesses can do the job, but are not getting the contracts because they are out by one or two points on assessments of contracts. We must give positive discrimination to Irish businesses on these issues. British and German Governments are telling their local authorities to do likewise. Senator Callely should not make fun of a serious issue.