John Gerard Hanafin (Fianna Fail)

I support what the previous speaker has said, especially in light of his suggestion that there is a way forward and there is light at the end of the tunnel. This month alone saw one of the largest decreases in numbers on the live register, with 5,000 people coming off it. I am very conscious that we can talk down an economy, which has happened, despite being self-defeating. For example, the media does it but depends on advertising of cars and property and small advertisements to move income along. Nevertheless, it tells the country we are in a depression.

The reality is we were in a worse position before. I only mention this to put our current position in context. In the 1980s unemployment was at 18%, inflation was at 20%, interest rates were at 22% and debt was at 130% of GDP. We came through that and there are two examples sitting in the Chamber of how necessary positive action was taken at the time. Tough decisions were made and within a few short years the economy was booming again and it grew for 15 years.

I agree that mistakes were made and those in the banks responsible for reckless lending must be held accountable. There was reckless lending but the question is whether that was deliberate to achieve bonuses. If that was the case, it should be dealt with but that is not the purpose of my speech on the economy.

We could be in a better place quite shortly. We are the most globalised economy in the world if we take from the equation the city-state of Singapore and the special administrative area of Hong Kong. As it stands, our food exports this year are well up and I am thankful to the international market for causing this because commodity prices are good. Manufacturing is performing well, which is another positive sign. We are taking strong steps in the services industry and the Irish Financial Services Centre is still profitable and will show a high tax return this year.

There are other areas to reflect on as well. We could benefit from better use of tourism and we must get our visa regime right. When people go on long-haul trips from the emerging economies of China and India, for example, they go for a long period. If I had to go to Australia it would not be for a weekend. Having spent that many hours in the air I would want to stay at least 12 to 20 days. People from India and China are doing this when travelling to Ireland. For those who have said we must bring in foreign students, we should ensure the country is a warm and welcoming place while remaining cost effective.

Dublin is a beautiful city for students, with a good bay and facilities. The garden of Ireland in Wicklow is nearby. We can sell what we have because we have a wonderful story to tell. What we must do now is correct our visa regime to ensure we encourage people to come who will spend significant amounts of money.

Much of what we have is right. Our infrastructure, including our roads, is very good. Our education standards are also very high, as are the skills of our workers. Unfortunately, we have lost many jobs, but the point is we are all dressed up and ready to go. World economies have started to recover. One might ask about what happened in the second quarter of this year when the figure fell by 1%. However, in the first quarter the economy grew by 2.2%. So far this year, therefore, we remain in positive territory. All commentators predict a growth rate of 3% growth next year.

What makes me most proud about what we are doing is the effort at ensuring social cohesion. The Government has tried to ensure the impact of the difficult decisions taken is spread to ensure no vulnerable parts of the economy will be unduly and heedlessly hit. I am sure all Members would aspire to this.

We have other opportunities. One such opportunity has been brought to light by the new Commissioner, Mrs. Maire Geoghegan Quinn, in the area of research and development. It appears that we are very good at developing products to a certain level in Europe but not so good in manufacturing or getting them to the marketplace. This must change. New opportunities are coming to light. I am cognisant, in particular, of our offshore oil resources. There are small oilfields such as Helvick Head, with a supply of 10 million barrels. Under normal circumstances, this would not be economic, but with innovations such as the new, unmanned, production buoy technology which costs one-tenth of the price of a fixed rig production system smaller fields, including those off the Irish coast, could be exploited. Exploiting the first commercial oilfield in Ireland would give the economy a great boost. The oil could be brought onshore by the company which has the unmanned production system, R & A Energy of Aberdeen. This is something at which we should look in order to move forward.

This is a small flexible economy and we have opportunities. The world market contains 6.5 billion people. We simply want our share of this huge economy and are doing well. Our aim must be to improve our economic position and get people back to work. Many genuine young people who were part of the property boom — I do not mean those who abused the system — were caught and may now find themselves bankrupt. We may have to consider changing the bankruptcy laws to give such genuine entrepreneurs, the young people who were starting out in business, a chance. That would allow the genuine ones back in and ensure those who did harm stayed out of the system.