Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I have one question for the Leader. I repeat a call I made last week for a debate on emigration and the Tánaiste's views on that issue. Last Thursday night on an RTE programme the Tánaiste was asked to comment on the nature and extent of involuntary emigration in our country and she would not answer the question. She would not acknowledge its existence or the extent of it. As I said last week, the Tánaiste and her office do not understand the effect and scale of involuntary unemployment among our young people, which is leading to dereliction among them and will do unimaginable harm to the future of our economy and society. Some of our best, brightest and hard-working young people are having to go abroad yet the Tánaiste, who is charged with being responsible for getting jobs for them, will not acknowledge their plight or do anything about it.