Mary Ann O'Brien (Independent)

I will pick up on the Leader's earlier comments. I was educated in Waterford and absolutely love the place. I empathise with the employees of TalkTalk and all the other companies which have gone in recent years. I was interested in The Munster Express observation and the opportunity that lies there.

If I may be so bold, there is a brilliant and inspirational entrepreneur called John Hartnett in town next week and the Minister will open his "Silicon Valley Comes to Ireland" event. I was going to ring Mr. Hartnett as he is a golfing pal and is over for the global forum in Dublin Castle. He is a big Limerick fan so I might hurt his feelings by saying that I get the feeling that he puts all his efforts into Silicon Valley. I was at the Shelbourne Hotel last night and the Taoiseach gave an uplifting and motivating speech on the Irish diaspora. We could give Mr. Hartnett a brick wall - the wider the better - because he loves to go through them. I would ask Mr. Hartnett to take on board the suggestion of Senator Cummins that we use the Waterford Crystal site. We could harness the energy of people like Mr. Hartnett and all his contacts in that amazing world. The Minister will have his ear next week so if he can hold on to it and tie him down, we would be more than grateful.

I have dealt with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland since 1992 as a business person. To support these bodies I would argue that they have changed with the times. People must get off their butts and use such services, and I have recently found that they have changed with the tough times. They are relevant and real to my company. I am about to receive the olive branch of becoming chairman of my company and there is a new chief executive officer coming in. He is a chartered accountant with a master's degree from the Smurfit Graduate School of Business. Enterprise Ireland has him and 19 other managing directors on a leadership for growth course in Lucerne now. He has told me it is the toughest process he has been through and it was a magnificent initiative by Enterprise Ireland. Although it was tough, all the leaders indicated they had new ideas from a global perspective of how businesses can be better run. I felt we slagged off Enterprise Ireland earlier but it also does brilliantly. It is up to business people to interact and challenge these bodies.

I welcomed the JobBridge initiative when it was introduced approximately 11 weeks ago. As a business person and concerned citizen of the State having witnessed the significant number of talented young people who lost their jobs on a daily basis, I thought it a magnificent initiative. I have advertised for some interns. Senator White mentioned Sir Terry Leahy and I wish he was still in Tesco. Did the company advertise for 200 interns for Christmas, when it is busier? That is not what the programme is for. At the behest of Enterprise Ireland I took on five master's degree students this summer in our company. There was much hassle although it was very rewarding. We prepared as a company for those people, meeting with the students every other day. Their projects were well mapped out and we made the experience very real and relevant. They have all written testimonials to me and I am grateful that they feel the experience will be relevant in their future careers.

We should examine the JobBridge again and look at the sort of companies taking on these interns. Perhaps there should be some boundaries or rules to safeguard people; there might be some methodology in the process. I do not mean any disrespect but a person does not need to be an intern to know how to stack shelves.