Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail)

We let him down because we did not agree to the Private Members' motion in the Dáil at the time on providing funding of £400,000 for haemophilia sufferers. We should have agreed to it but we did not. Alan Dukes was very courageous in his approach in that regard and gave us an opportunity to continue with very hard decisions.

There was a 10% cut across all Departments, including the then Department of Health. It was very difficult to sustain it. Now we are where we are. We need to look at this, not from the point of view of the blame game, but from the realisation that nobody was in a position to foresee what would happen in 2009 and the downturn in the world economy. We must start with the American situation. When America gets a cold, we get the flu. That is a reality of life. It is a very important trading partner and player in the world economy. The whole banking industry has fallen apart as a result of that.

What the Government is doing, as far as banking is concerned, is the only action it could have taken and has taken. We are very fortunate we had set aside the National Pensions Reserve Fund because only for it we would be in greater difficulty. That was very prudent and perhaps we should have put more savings into it and set aside more money for a rainy day such as we did not foresee. That money has kept the banks open and without it we would not be in a position to keep them open.

We now have to look at the different opportunities we have. We had more than 2 million people employed, which was a marvellous achievement. Employment doubled over the past ten years the Government was in power. We now have to maintain the jobs we have and to try to improve and increase further production. Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and the Minister of State's Department have a very important role in this regard. They must ensure we maintain the jobs in the economy. We have some tremendous employers and multinational and domestic industries in the country that are working very hard and are surviving the recession.

Boston Scientific in Galway is a massive employer. Intel and other companies are playing a very important role in Ireland and we have attracted and retained multinational companies as far as we can. We have to continue the policy of bringing in industry to the country. We need that support from abroad. We are located at the gateway to Europe and have a very solid political system which attracts investment. We have a guaranteed political system with a democratic approach and whatever Government is in power will continue it. That gives great stability to investors from abroad.

We must ensure our costs are reduced dramatically. We have outpriced ourselves and have the highest minimum wage in Europe. We are not competing with our neighbours in the UK because its structure is completely different and we have overpaid ourselves in every area. Action is now being taken by the Government to try to reduce national expenditure.

The Green Party is a tremendous boost because it was looking ahead and could see the future as far as renewables are concerned. The emphasis on wind and solar energy and a reduction in the imports of fuel are all part of what we can do to build a new economy. I complement the Green Party on its support and involvement in Government, and also former members of the Progressive Democrats who are part of this Government as well. One appeal I make to all sides of the House is to come up with constructive proposals on maintaining and creating jobs for the future. We can and we will work ourselves out of this situation.

Last week I spoke to the president of the European Bank for Reconstruction. In 1987, interest rates were 18%, inflation was 18% and unemployment was about 18%. We worked ourselves out of that situation. Inflation is nil and interest rates are very low. Unemployment, unfortunately, is rising. We have to work together in the Oireachtas for the people of this country to ensure we have a future. I believe we will have a great future and will work as a team in that regard.