Mary White (Fianna Fail)

Given that the two days we are to sit next week are the last two before the recess, I plead with the Leader, Senator Maurice Cummins, to invite the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, and the Minister for Health, Deputy James Reilly, to the Seanad next week. The Minister of State at the Department of Arts, Heritage and Gaeltacht Affairs, Deputy Dinny McGinley, promised and the Taoiseach hoped this would be the most efficient Seanad ever. As far as I am concerned, the most crucial issue in the country is that of jobs. I have spoken about this non-stop.

During the last recession, when Connie Doody and I started up Lir Chocolates, I saw how people were transformed when they moved from unemployment to having a job. It is not just a question of money but about social intercourse and meeting people every day. I saw people's self-confidence change in a matter of months when they were able to do a job successfully. I understand from experience of not having a job what this is like.

With regard to the points made by Senators Whelan and Sheahan on the Superquinn issue, we should have questions and answers on companies going into liquidation. As I stated yesterday, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Richard Bruton, is coasting on the good export figures. The harsh reality, however, concerns what is happening to the suppliers of Superquinn. So many domestic retail businesses are closing down and are in jeopardy because they do not have access to cash to keep running. This is the harsh reality. In general, we have a dynamic, capital-intensive export industry but the service and retail industries that do not export, because it is not part of their business, are in dire need of cash. I want the Minister, Deputy Bruton, to advise the House on what he is doing to secure cash flow.

I want to hear the Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, state whether he is fighting passionately to renegotiate the terms of our own. When my husband and I were young, we probably spent too much of what we borrowed from the bank. We had to return to the bank and renegotiate to have the interest rate lowered. I recall the great relief when it was lowered. Imagine what it would be like for Ireland if its interest rate were lowered and the term of its loan were lengthened. The rate and the term are holding us back. Ireland is not Greece, Portugal or Spain and has a dynamic export sector, but it will have a very flat, dying domestic sector unless the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and the Minister for Finance take this issue by the scruff of the neck.