Mary White (Fianna Fail)

I urgently request the presence in the Seanad before the end of this session of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. The state of the economy and the crisis in the number of unemployed people are most serious issues and I am disappointed that the Minister, Deputy Bruton, has not yet appeared in this House. I plead with the Leader to make endeavours in this regard. While it was all very fine to have Mr. Buzek in the Chamber yesterday, I seek the attendance of the Minister, Deputy Bruton, to spell out the position on the ground and what he is doing with regard to the numbers of unemployed people and to help get them back to work. The danger lies in the increasing numbers of people in long-term unemployment. As I have stated previously, the continued success of the multinational exporting industries and the indigenous exporting Irish companies was nurtured and grown under the watch of Fianna Fáil. Moreover, I read an article last week about the financial services sector and how successful it is, in which there was not a single mention of how Mr. Haughey had driven the development of the financial services centre.