Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

-----we received. The example of Achill Island was given. There was a serious difficulty with employment on the island and satellite broadband saved the day. If the Senator wishes to bring a specific part of the country to my attention, I will furnish him with the details. Colleagues might be pleasantly surprised by what is happening in this area.

Senators Mullen and Callely asked for a debate on issues surrounding trafficking. I will refer back to the Senators later today on the matter.

Senators Regan and Hannigan asked that the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation be invited to the House to discuss the stabilisation fund. They urged that the Minister do everything he can with regard to that fund. The Minister led a very successful trade mission to America recently. He will have no difficulty coming to the House and updating Members on his portfolio.

Senator Butler updated the House with the information that exports are up 2.5% while the motor industry has seen sales of 55,000 in the first four months of this year. This is equal to the total number of sales for last year. In addition, the EU projects the economy to grow by 3% next year. This is very welcome news. The Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner also said that Ireland had taken bold and creditable steps to pull its economy around and that the measures were paying off now. I thank Senator Butler for bringing this good news to the attention of the House. We certainly welcome it.

Senator McFadden raised the issue of training and upskilling. I could not agree more with the Senator and I look forward to FÁS playing its part in that regard. This morning Senators, under the leadership of the Cathaoirleach, attended Arbour Hill for the commemoration of the men and women who died in 1916 and heard the wonderful homily given by Bishop Treanor. Not only did he say that trust is important but also that hope is important. Irish people have had hope in abundance for generations. Just because we have had two very bad years we should not overlook the ten magnificent and unprecedented years before that. Things are starting to stabilise now and, it is to be hoped, credit will become available from the autumn. If the banks do not provide it, the Government has a duty to act. We are giving them the money because we want them to lend. If they do not lend, the banks know what will happen to them. Regardless of whether one is a member of Fianna Fáil, Fine Gael, the Labour Party, Sinn Féin or an Independent, we must ensure-----