Joe O'Reilly (Fine Gael)

On behalf of the Fine Gael Party, I warmly congratulate former Senator Alan Kelly on his election as a Member of the European Parliament. He will do the country, his party and himself proud and I have no doubt he will be as capable an advocate in the European Parliament as he was in this House. I wish him well in this important role and have every confidence he will serve the country well. I also join Senator Leyden in extending my best wishes to all those who were elected to local authorities. They, too, have important responsibilities.

The issue I raise is the need for this House to be at the forefront of job creation efforts. This is the greatest onus on the Oireachtas at present. Members must exhort the Government to create jobs, debate the issue of job creation, propose new ideas for generating employment and do everything in our power to assist job creation efforts. The main issue I encountered while travelling around the north west constituency during the recent European election campaign was the need to create jobs. I met large numbers of able bodied people at home at hours of the day when many of them used to be at work. This is a serious issue.

In this context, I draw the Leader's attention to a report published today which was commissioned from Deloitte by the Irish Wind Energy Association. According to this document, the wind energy sector has the potential to create 10,000 jobs in the next ten years. Achieving this will, however, require major investment in the national grid. The IWEA report, the Spirit of Ireland proposition and the Fine Gael Party's recent jobs plan all suggest employment can be created in the wind energy sector. Will the Leader convene a special debate before the recess on the potential to create jobs in the green energy sector? A full-day debate is required to tease out this issue. The House owes the country nothing less.