Larry Butler (Independent)

That example demonstrates how a fine industry was brought to its knees by overvaluing the various services being provided. Land was also exploited. A site in a normal area which should have cost €30,000 was being traded for €100,000. That gives a hint about why the construction industry collapsed. Raw materials and labour became too expensive and when that happened, Joe public could no longer afford to buy a house.

There has been an adjustment in the private sector because people had to accept lower pay. That made our exports more attractive. The euro has decreased in value against the dollar and sterling, which also helps industry to create employment. We have to be led by the export industry.

President Sarkozy and other European leaders should not worry about the Irish because we will look after ourselves when it comes to exporting and attracting companies. Our attractive corporation tax rate of 12.5% should be the bottom line. I agree with Senator Ross that we form our own tax policies and that if we want to expand inward investment, we need an attractive tax regime. We have seen the success our tax policies.

The Minister of State has outlined how we will go about expanding exports to China and other Asian markets. We have a great opportunity in the education sector because we have some of the finest educators and best accommodation on offer in the world. We should attract a larger share of this market. We are earning approximately €800 million from students coming here to learn English, compared to a figure of €12 billion in the United Kingdom and €4.5 billion to €5 billion in Australia. Everybody wants to learn English which is the medium for most business transactions. We should seek to ensure our schools teach Chinese and Japanese students. We need a forward looking education system. We could easily earn a further €800 million from students coming here to learn English. That would give a huge boost to our letting industry and other sectors. Each student would spend in the region of €22,000, a colossal amount of money. For very little investment, we could create a considerable number of jobs.

We should pay attention to where opportunities arise. While we cannot create jobs, we can develop the climate to promote job creation in exports and services.

Our economic recovery will be hindered until we sort out our banking problems. Certain bankers still cannot tell the truth. It is not good enough to give misinformation to the Minister for Finance when one considers what the taxpayer has done for the banks. The people whom we have put on the boards of the banks should be obliged to report to the Minister on a weekly or monthly basis to ensure he will be kept up to date on what is happening in the banking sector. We should break the banks into commercial, retail and investment sections and reduce them in size because they became too big to save in many cases. We have saved most of the banks and it is important to restructure them in a way that sufficient credit will be provided to maximise the export industry.