Nicky McFadden (Fine Gael)

Senator Walsh told us not to be political and this is very relevant. If Fianna Fáil had put the national interest first in recent years, we would not be in this situation. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Lenihan, was conciliatory and admitted the economy had been overheated from 2001 to 2003. He has always said that this was the case. He accepted what the International Monetary Fund has said. He is taking responsibility and I applaud him for the way he spoke this morning. Fine Gael has always supported the good ideas this Government developed. As spokesperson on social and family affairs, my concern is the 15.5% of people who will be unemployed and how we will support them. The IMF is saying we must reduce spending. If that is the case, how will we support those who are unemployed?

We must keep money in the economy and therefore the banks must lend to small businesses. That is the biggest issue. Banks are talking the talk but are not lending money to small businesses. Each job is worth €20,000 to the Exchequer. We must safeguard jobs and keep people employed. This House needs to hold good debates on how we will fix this country. It is not about sparring across the floor of this House. I agree with Senator Walsh but he should practise what he preaches.