Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the recently appointed Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, whom I have known for many years. I know he has perseverance and he is a worker. In my book they are key personality characteristics to deliver professionalism in his work. He has a great opportunity before him.

Speaking about the IMF report earlier the Minister of State, Deputy Kelleher, said:

Crucially, the report endorses the policies being pursued by the Government. It says that in the two areas that matter most - the healing of the financial sector and the correction of the budgetary situation - the Government has moved in the right direction.

I have noticed that our senior Ministers are smiling more these days after their policies have been endorsed. It is a relief to see that rather than worry and concern on their faces. In particular I have noticed the Minister for Finance has been smiling all the time since the report was published. The Minister of State continued to say:

[In] the healing of the financial sector and the correction of the budgetary situation - the Government has moved in the right direction. As we all are aware, the [International Monetary Fund] is a rigorously independent organisation, with a considerable economic expertise, so the endorsement it provides for the actions being taken by the Government carries considerable weight internationally.

I fully endorse what the Minister of State said.

In case any of my colleagues are unaware, the Minister of State, Deputy Calleary, worked for many years in Chambers Ireland and got to the nuts and bolts of what business needs to do to survive. On 23 June I attended the Lemass international forum at which Dr. T.K. Whitaker, the icon of the public sector, said it was very important to draw attention to the fundamental economic truths about our economy. As a businessperson I probably saw more clearly than most what was going wrong in the economy with the lack of competitiveness and the cost of doing business here. Dr. Whitaker said:

In the midst of a worldwide recession, as we await a revival of incomes and demand in the major economies, we cannot afford to forget that we will benefit from a global economy only if our goods and services are competitive in price and quality. The greater part of our income as a nation comes from exports of goods and services, so incomes and jobs are vitally dependent on competitiveness.

The Cathaoirleach will know that I have been saying that for many years. When we were in the middle of the bubble many people in Leinster House thought we were rich because we were getting all the taxes from the property sector and they had a false idea of what makes an economy sound. As we are a tiny open economy dependent on the world economy, I warned in this House that unless we sold goods and services abroad, we would not be able to create or sustain employment. Now that the bubble has burst we are inundated with reports and discussions on competitiveness.

Connie Doody and I launched Lir Chocolates in 1986 to create employment. In some parts of Ireland there was 40% unemployment and the overall national figure was approximately 17%. It was wonderful to see the effect on a person of having a job. Sigmund Freud outlined what it takes to make a person happy. We have a doctor in the House who has dealt with people coming to him and knows what makes them happy. Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis said: "the secret of a happy life is to love and to work".