Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

Cuirim fáilte roimh an Aire Stáit, Deputy Peter Power. The last section of Senator Doherty's speech resembled someone perhaps looking for transfers in the by-election in Donegal. I hope he will not need them and that Barry O'Neill will win the by-election.

The backdrop to this Finance Bill is an economic crisis. Unemployment in the State is now 13.1%, according to Central Statistics Office figures published today. That is an increase from 12.5% last year. The figures paint a picture that does not lie. The group that has been hit most severely is that between the ages of 20 and 24, which records a 9% fall in employment from last year. At the end of last year, 189,100 men and 78,400 women were unemployed, which represents a 57% increase for men and a 49% increase for women over the same year.

At a time when the Government speaks about the smart economy and rewarding and recognising research and development, it is worth putting on the record of the House that the unemployment rate among those with a third level honours degree or higher qualification was 6.1% and the unemployment rate among those with a third level ordinary degree was 8.6%. Those are people out of work. They are not able to find employment. Those are people who are educated and who will make a valuable contribution to society. At the end of the last quarter in 2008, 267,000 were unemployed.

Yesterday, we saw a missed opportunity with the Cabinet reshuffle. That gives me the cue to welcome the new Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Deputy Connick, and congratulate him and his family on his appointment. I hope he will transform the Department and I wish him well because he is an honourable man. Although he will have a short tenure in the Department because Fine Gael will be there soon, I hope he will bring a reforming zeal to his office.