Donie Cassidy (Fianna Fail)

Senators Fitzgerald, O'Toole, Alex White, Boyle, O'Reilly, Leyden, Norris, Coffey, Hanafin, Harris, Walsh, Coghlan, MacSharry, Quinn, Feeney, Buttimer, Healy Eames, Mullen, Bradford, McFadden, Donohoe and Mooney all expressed serious views of the economy and where we find ourselves as a nation following the summer recess. I have scheduled a an all-day debate on the economy tomorrow which will roll over to next week, if necessary. Nothing more could be relevant to the business of the House than hearing the views and serious concerns of Members about the economy. They outlined genuine experiences in order that the Government could include them in its thinking, particularly at Estimates and budget time.

Senators O'Toole, MacSharry, Harris, Feeney, Buttimer, Cannon, Twomey and Mooney referred to the achievements of the Croke Park agreement. As Senator O'Toole said, we should see how we can support the great efforts being made by everyone, including the Government, to arrive at agreement. As Leader of the House, I have had nothing but 100% support from the Fianna Fáil group. Senator Twomey may have tried to direct a view that there was a difficulty in this regard. This side of the House was firm on the Croke Park agreement, as were many colleagues on the other side of the House. One party leader did not want to express a view or opinion on it, but I will have no difficulty in setting time aside occasionally for the Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Deputy Calleary, to update us on progress. Senator Harris has strong views and made proposals in the House from time to time, which have come true. If this can be done on a bimonthly basis, I will have no difficulty in ordering such business in the next few months.

Senators Leyden, Carroll, Coffey, Cannon and Mooney welcomed the Government's strategy to create 150,000 new jobs and I would like to be associated with their comments. Our exports have increased substantially on the figures for last year. As Senator Donohoe correctly said, we will get out of this through growth. Export figures are one of the most uplifting features of where we are. No politician or journalist commenting on the second quarter economic figures which highlighted a downturn of 1.2% referred to the main difficulty experienced by business people during the period, the challenge presented by the ash cloud. Our airports were closed on three occasions and, on one occasion, for five days. It was a magnificent and a marvellous second quarter return considering the uncertainty, particularly in the business and tourism sectors. Business people could not come to Ireland and all tours were cancelled. Why is there not more accurate reporting of the facts, whether within government or the media? I hope there will be growth of more than 1.5% for the year. I am confident this will be achieved. Tomorrow is the last day of the third quarter.

Last week 200,000 people attended the national ploughing championships, a three-day event. This broke all records, while 90,000 attended two Michael Bublé concerts at the weekend. Currently, people have €96 billion in savings. We have to open our eyes and realise that almost half of the population are saving more than three times the European average. There is a huge positive aspect to the country and we have to work on the positives. One would go bust working on the negatives. When I read about the downturn in magazine readership and national radio listenership figures, it is easy to work out that people are fed up with bad news.