Paschal Donohoe (Fine Gael)

I am aware of that. Those bearing the brunt of the changes which have place place in the labour market and the economy are young people. They do not have a voice or representation which other parts of our society enjoy.

On young people and emigration, in the past few weeks the Tánaiste has been questioned twice regarding her role in the matter. I would like the Minister of State to take the opportunity to outline the view of the Government. I saw the Tánaiste being questioned on BBC on whether she accepted the level of involuntary emigration. She refused to answer the question and at one point said young people were emigrating for fun. It is true; I saw it with own eyes. She went on to say it was not a bad thing that our best and brightest were going abroad to look for work in other economies. The transcript is available at the BBC. When she was questioned, she did not deny it. A week later, when she was asked on "Primetime" on RTE if she accepted the level of involuntary emigration, again she did not answer or acknowledge the question. If we have a Minister running the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and making a statement that it is not a bad thing that some of our best and brightest are going abroad and that some are going for fun, what does that say about our hope to deal with the issue of youth unemployment? The emigration of our best and brightest is not policy, rather it is a dereliction of duty and a catastrophe. I would like the Minister of State to indicate to the House his views on the matter, as the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment appears unwilling to do so.

One reason this is a disaster for the country is that in previous times when the economy experienced emigration, people returned home. I was lucky enough to be able to do so, like many people my age. We were able to return because two things fell into place. First, the national finances were strong which allowed the creation of employment and people like me return. Second, there was a focus on job creation measures and strategies which focused on young people and getting emigrants to return home.

I have four suggestions to make to the Minister of State which would be worthy of consideration.