Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

It is wrong. It should not be that way. We must tackle our competitiveness. Our exports have decreased for the past six years. We have become a service based, construction based economy. I am pleased the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, has returned. There is nothing whatever in this budget for jobs. We have put forward an alternative which is painful for some people. There is a genuine understanding by Irish people that we are in a mess, that it was the fault of Fianna Fáil, that we will pay them back but we want the economy to work again and for our children not to be saddled with debt, no hope and no opportunity. Sadly, we have no vision from the Government to say that far away hills are green, there is no Ronald Reagan bright lights ahead and no dawn tomorrow.