Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail)

The Government is totally committed to getting people back to work. It is the number one priority of the Government. I fail to understand why there is criticism even outside of the body politic. I doubt if there is one Member of either this House or the other House who is serving as a public representative who is not aware of the acute trauma and pain being experienced by families who find either the breadwinner or his or her siblings unemployed, particularly those who are coming out of second and third level education. Equally, I doubt if there is any Member of this House or the other House who does not want to see the unemployment rate brought down as quickly and as effectively as possible. Let us get rid of the canard straight away that the Government does not care about unemployment or that it is not establishing a coherent and effective plan.

We know the best way to create and sustain employment is firstly to get our own house in order and we are doing that by fixing the banking system, restoring order to the public finances and regaining our competitiveness. We have maintained a very significant capital investment programme which is of the order of €6 billion, which is going towards infrastructural development going into the next year and which is higher than the European Union average despite the severe cutbacks in our budgetary and fiscal policy. We have introduced a wide range of innovative proposals aimed at creating and maintaining jobs, of which this is one of several. This year we are also providing almost 160,000 training and work activation places.

To focus on what the motion is about, I will describe what I refer to as the ten key areas for job generation that the Government has identified. Confidence is No. 1 and is central to our economic recovery and job creation. It is the confidence to lend, spend, invest and hire. International confidence in Ireland has been increased by the difficult decisions we have taken while consumer confidence is improving. These are economic facts. Like those who criticise Government policy, I am somewhat reluctant to refer regularly to international commentators on our financial and fiscal policies. While it is welcome, our initiatives have emerged from sound Government thinking. They have not been created by the Wallstreet Journal, the International Herald Tribune or the Financial Times, although those critiques and articles are welcome because they tend to sustain an air of confidence among international investors that Ireland is doing the right thing.

It is amusing that, while these respected international economic and financial commentators seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet, the Government is doing nothing or its actions are wrong according to the domestic political environment. It does not make sense, particularly where credit is concerned. This is a bugbear of mine and the banks have questions to answer. I do not believe everything I hear from the banking sector on lending, in particular to small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs. Banks are spending a great deal of money on radio, television and newspaper advertising telling us how many people they have lent to and how much they have lent. Senators opposite will agree that the evidence on the ground is that lending is not at the rate it should be despite it being one of the key drivers for the economy. Access to credit is required if SMEs are to grow and create jobs.

I would like to believe the recent banking announcements, including an independent credit review process, and obligations on banks to meet specific lending targets for small firms will work, but it seems that banks are being brought kicking and screaming to the table. No one has sympathy for or empathy with the banks. We know what they did to this country. For years, these people were supposed to be our financial betters. They were surrounded by an architecture of financial and economic advisers and experts. They were supposed to know everything that was occurring. To our country's detriment, we have seen how shallow their knowledge was.

Another key area for job generation is cost. To create and sustain employment, we must ensure we price ourselves back into the market. Although it has been difficult, we have been determined to drive down our cost base by tackling public pay and other barriers to competition, such as energy costs. It was with some sorrow I read the recent EUROSTAT report referred to by all sides of the House yesterday. It indicated that we were the second most expensive country in Europe. On further examination, I came to understand the survey was nine months out of date. Those nine months have been significant. All sides of the House will agree that those who are providing goods and services have successfully been making strenuous efforts to ensure the reduction of our cost base. Our placement in the next EUROSTAT survey will be interesting because the recent report, which examined the situation nine to 12 months ago, was an unfair and inaccurate depiction of the competitiveness of our current cost base.

The Government has committed to investing a total of €40 billion in infrastructure during the next six years. This year, we will invest €6.5 billion, providing up to 70,000 jobs. At 5% of our GNP, this is twice the European average, so the gainsayers should not claim that the Government is not acutely aware of how important it is that we maintain a significant capital programme and look after the most vulnerable in society. The simple facts bear repeating. We are accruing approximately €30 billion per year in taxation, but we are borrowing a further €20 billion in light of the country's running cost of more than €50 billion. Anyone who runs a household knows that, if one is spending more than one is earning, one must find the rest of the money somewhere. That we have moved from a situation of budget surpluses in the early part of the last decade to one of severe budget deficits is sad.

International investors are showing so much confidence in the Irish economy and not just in the financial pages. When the last borrowing requirement for Ireland was put on the market recently, it was three times oversubscribed. This clearly states that those who have money still see Ireland as a safe bet. The sad reality is that borrowing is costing us more than it did to 12 or 18 months ago. The cost is 2.5% or 3% greater than it would have been two years ago. I cannot understand the markets' logic in this, but as a financial adviser told me recently, there is no logic in the money markets and one should never believe otherwise. They are lemmings, do not think and follow the trend of the day. People should view the stock market as a barometer of the economic reality in this or any other country.

Innovation is another of the ten key areas. We are committed to developing Ireland as a global innovation hub. The innovation task force estimated that more than 110,000 jobs can be created through supporting innovative business. Foreign direct investment, FDI, which has been the bulwark on which this country has not only survived, but flourished during the past 40 or 50 years under successive Governments, will continue being an important source of new jobs. I praise the IDA. In the most difficult of times, it is still out there battling and competing. Major international firms still have confidence in Ireland as being somewhere they can locate jobs. The new IDA strategy, Horizon 2020, is targeting 105,000 jobs nationwide by 2015. In the past six months, the IDA announced more has 1,200 high-quality jobs through FDI. These are not base line, service-centred or assembly jobs.

Small business has rightly exercised the minds and rhetoric of this and the Lower House. Being from rural Ireland, I know the importance of SMEs. They are the most significant element in the job creation strategy and should receive all the support they need. Enterprise Ireland's objective is to create 40,000 new jobs in the next five years. Last year, the enterprise stabilisation fund supported more than 7,500 jobs. The employment subsidy scheme is estimated to maintain 80,000 jobs. The PRSI job initiative scheme is expected to generate 10,000 new jobs. The car scrappage scheme, the catalyst for the turn in consumer confidence earlier this year, is expected to safeguard 2,000 jobs.

The last three elements of the ten key strategies include green enterprise. The green enterprise action group published proposals on creating 80,000 new jobs in the coming years. To date, 15,000 jobs have been announced. As well as 120,000 primary producers, the Government-supported agrifood sector employs more than 45,000 people in more than 800 companies. A new €100 million fund has been established to improve the food industry's competitiveness during the coming years.

Most importantly of all, the tourism and hospitality sectors support in excess of 200,000 jobs. The overall tourism budget has been increased this year while investment in visitor attractions has trebled to €22 million. The tourism industry is going through a challenging time, but we should remember that we now have a Minister who is innovative, creative and imaginative.