Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I have long argued that if we are going to create jobs, they will not be created by Government. Governments do not create long-lasting jobs. What must happen is that we must encourage industry and business to create jobs. One way to do this is by helping those in transition year, as mentioned by Senator van Turnhout. I have always had students on work experience in my office here and I am amazed now to learn that for some reason or other we have been told to discontinue this practice. This issue needs immediate attention.

Yesterday, Senator Healy Eames spoke very strongly, as did Senator Sheahan today, about the difficulty of transferring costs to industry. Senator Healy Eames was quite explicit with regard to the tough job of running a business. If sick pay must be paid for four weeks by a company, this will damage the opportunity to create jobs. Today's Financial Times states that Sarkozy is to tackle labour costs. He says the high costs of labour in France penalise the economy and penalise France in terms of international competitiveness. That is exactly what will happen here if we transfer more costs onto industry and business. If we are to succeed, we must ensure this sort of thing does not happen. Some 20 years ago, I was chairman of a hospital and we used to get letters every week from a State agency seeking to place more people asking whether we had taken on any more nurses, porters or help. That was the wrong way to operate. The creation of jobs just for the sake of the jobs will not help us get out of our difficulty.

I support Senator Barrett's call for a debate on the euro. We must keep a careful eye on this issue and debate the economy weekly so that we ensure we can create employment in the future.