Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I second the amendment to the Order of Business from Senator Fitzgerald and support other speakers' call for a debate on the OECD report. Senator Boyle is correct in that we should have a debate about the report in its entirety and the Seanad is a good place to have it.

I will make two points on the matter. The biggest contribution our country can make in dealing with the crisis in our national finances is to create more jobs. The more of these we have, the more tax revenue will be created and the more confident people will be in spending the money they have in their bank accounts. The biggest contribution that can be made to closing the €4 billion gap this year, next year and the year after that is to get people back to work.

Senator Hannigan indicated that the national jobs council has only met once this year, which is more than pathetic - it is a disgrace.