Paddy Burke (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Mansergh, for this important debate. The country has reached a critical stage. While the Minister of State delivered a great speech, I was disappointed he did not outline the exact position on AIB. He should have treated the House with respect by bringing us up to date on the percentage shareholding the Government will take in AIB, by indicating how much money will be put into the bank and what the future holds for it.

Much has been said by previous speakers about the need to move forward together. The Fine Gael Party and its leader brought forward plans, but the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance and their Government colleagues have rejected every plan proposed from this side of the House. That displays arrogance. The Government has been too long in power and believes no one other than the Government parties has any ideas. This is particularly true of Fianna Fáil which has run the country for the past 15 years without interruption.

It is proposed to create 150,000 jobs, with a further 150,000 to follow. Many of these will be in manufacturing. Senator Quinn has pointed out that we must get the cost base right for that sector. We must do something about costs which are too high. Energy bills, water and sewerage costs and rates are too high. Motor, general and public liability insurance is too high. There must be an environment in which 300,000 jobs can be created, but costs too high. We must help in this regard. As Minister of State said, we must have a banking system that will lend to those willing to take a risk to create jobs. There are many risk takers, many of whom got into trouble in the past few years, but there are those who are willing to put their hard earned money on the line. However, they need assistance and a banking force. That is why I am disappointed the Minister of State did not spell out the Minister's decision on AIB in greater detail.

We have all spoken about tourism. It offers one of the quickest ways to get the economy to grow. In the past few years the numbers coming into the country have decreased. One wonders what Fáilte Ireland has done. In the report before us the Minister of State at the Department of Finance suggests some 8 million tourists will be attracted. We have never had a better product in this country. One can go fishing and moutainteering and play golf. Salmon are leaping out of every river in the country. We have never had more hotel bedrooms or hotels of better quality. We have never enjoyed better access through regional and international airports. However, we lost the welcome for which we were renowned during the years, but this is changing. Tourism is one of our greatest assets which can be promoted immediately to secure growth. In that regard, I am disappointed the Government will not deal with Mr. Michael O'Leary, one of the biggest airline operators in the world. The Government should take the bull by the horns and talk to him to secure an attractive package to bring people into every corner of the country. He has the ways and means and marketing experience to do so.

Much has been said in the past few days about the Minister for Education and Skills attending a conference in America. There is no great need for her to travel to America to attract foreign students to this country. If I wanted to go to Australia or New Zealand, all I would have to do is go to the travel agent and I would receive a visa within 24 hours. A student from China, India and many other countries who wants to come here to study for two or three months must wait up to 12 months to receive a visa. That is the reality. I know a person who was bringing students to this country for three months during the summer. Students bring a lot of money to the country. Up to 19 students from India were due to travel and they had given notice of that to the Irish embassy in New Delhi to process their visa applications, but there was not enough time to do it. That is difficult to imagine. Is there any need for the Tánaiste and Minister for Education and Science to go to a conference in America when things like that are happening? If we want to attract students, which we do because it will fill hotel rooms, use facilities, bring in much needed revenue and help our balance of payments, then action must be taken to ensure foreign students can come to this country. English is our first language and a great education can be provided to students from abroad.

Issues can be dealt with immediately but the Government does not seem to be willing to take on the challenge. At any rate it is very slow to tackle issues. As the Minister of State outlined in his speech the recession has been going on for almost four years, since 2007. We are still going down. We have not yet reached the bottom. NAMA was a mistake. I said at the time that we needed a bottom. We needed a fire sale of property. If we do not get a bottom in the property market we will not start to climb. We must reach the bottom either through a fire sale or in another way because when we reach the bottom the only way we can go from there is up. We need to get to the bottom and we need to know that we are at the bottom because otherwise no one will have any confidence in buying or selling. A lot of revenue has been generated through capital gains tax and property transactions. Issues such as student visas and tourism can be dealt with immediately but other issues such as the high cost of manufacturing, the cost of electricity, insurance and rates should be dealt with by the Government.

We in the Fine Gael Party and Members on this side of the House are willing to play our fair share but the Government must accept some of the proposals put forward by my party. I cannot see why it would not do that. As Senator MacSharry said, the Minister for Finance has his door open for proposals. We made several proposals and costed several plans, including one for the creation of 105,000 jobs and the setting up of new semi-State bodies. The Minister for Finance and the Taoiseach rubbished them. While our door is open it seems the Government's door is never open. I welcome the opportunity to speak on the matter. I hope the Government takes immediate action on tourism and education.