Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

I join previous speakers in condemning the Minister for Social Protection. In flying a flag last week, the Minister has intimidated and scared people. If the Members opposite are so concerned about social justice, they should not just talk about it but rather they should vote with those on this side of the House. Social justice does not involve scaring people, issuing soundbites or balancing the books, it involves protecting and caring for those who are most vulnerable. The latter is something the Government has not done and it proved itself incapable of doing so again last week.

A total of 800 job losses were announced this morning. Some 330 of these relate to County Cork, where I live. That is a massive number. In that context, we should again consider the overall position with regard to unemployment, the rate of which currently stands at 13% or some 430,000 of our fellow citizens. As Senator Fitzgerald stated, two to three, four to five or ten to 20 people employed by small and medium enterprises have been made unemployed each day for the past three years under the Government's failed economic policy. Where is the Government's job creation policy? Where is the plan to get us out of the economic mess in which we find ourselves?

The Government has not displayed any vision in the context of creating jobs. Fine Gael has outlined in its NewERA document how it would create 100,000 new jobs. The Government has not provided a job creation plan, it has no vision and it cannot provide people with hope. There are young children in the Gallery who have been saddled with a debt of €400 billion as a result of the recapitalisation of the banks. When will the relevant Minister come before the House and provide information on the Government's plans for job creation, give people hope and allow ours to become a working society again?