Larry Butler (Independent)

I congratulate the Minister of State for his clear description of what we are doing to take advantage of export opportunities in Asia and various other parts of the world. The past three years have been the worst period of our history since the 1930s. In addition to a crisis in the financial sector and the world economy, the construction industry has collapsed. This has forced Irish industries to find new ways of competing. Most would agree that we were overpaying ourselves. Our wage bill was far too high. To give a simple example, a bricklayer who previously demanded €3 to lay a brick is now happy to do so for 60 cent.