Dan Boyle (Green Party)

I welcome the Tánaiste to the House for this timely and necessary debate on employment and competitiveness, recognising the other demands on her time. Issues of employment and unemployment are the most serious issues of economic concern this year. In a very short time we have gone from a situation of full employment to unacceptably high levels of unemployment. While these have not been and are unlikely to reach the levels feared, they are still far too high. It is to be hoped that as they peak some time this year we can start the process of reinstating the high numbers in our workforce to match the peak of more than 2 million some years ago. At present some 1.8 million people are in the workforce. Within a 12-month period there has been a considerable turnover among the 430,000 who are unemployed. For example, in 2009 150,000 of those who came on to the unemployment register found alternative employment within the year. That indicates some healthy signs within our present economy and shows where it is heading in the medium term.

To to bring about the economic recovery and subsequent increased employment levels, the first thing this Government had to do was get public finances back in check. The 2010 budget and the Finance Bill which will be published in the coming weeks are intended to achieve that. When we reach peak unemployment this year we will be able to start the return to previous levels of employment on the basis of policies already being implemented. Chief among those is that we cannot go back to the employment policy that existed from the start of the past decade until 2007 and the change in economic circumstances. For example, the number of people who were engaged in construction is not something we will see in a new economy that will employ people differently. The emphasis must be on re-skilling and new skilling and on focusing our education system to ensure appropriate skills are given to the people entering into the workforce and re-skilling those currently in the workforce or those who need to re-enter it.

There are other positive signs. The fact that our exports are doing well, that we have a positive balance of payments and the contribution being made by multinational companies are all signs of hope. Others, including the Tánaiste, addressed the recent report of the National Competitiveness Council. However, I would not put forward the negative slant that was put on it by many of the Opposition speakers in the debate so far. In my view, this report is largely optimistic. It does not pull punches in saying where we need to improve but in general terms states we are going in the right direction and can correct what needs to be corrected quite easily if appropriate decisions are made. The report discusses the positive nature of our exports and the fact that our competitiveness has improved. One of the effects of the Celtic tiger economy was that we achieved wage levels that, in comparison with those of our competitor economies, can no longer be justified, especially in the aftermath of an international recession. This means that for people on high wages difficult decisions must be made and lower wages accepted in the short term so that our economy can grow and become more competitive.

Another criticism has been made regarding the Government's policy on job creation and reversing unemployment trends, namely, there is no Government policy. When one considers the Tánaiste's speech, that is obviously untrue. A number of policy documents and polices are being implemented by the Government that identify the type and number of jobs that can be achieved in the next decade. Actions to support the smart economy, purely in terms of infrastructure, envisage 30,000 jobs being created over this period. There is a concrete proposal for an international content service centre that will support the development of 1,000 digital content companies. This would produce a hoped-for 10,000 jobs in that period. My party has been subject to much derision regarding our contribution to economic policy and its success but the green enterprise group-----