Labhrás Ó Murchú (Fianna Fail)

If the thousands of young people queueing up to leave the country saw a replay of the debate this morning, would they consider our concern and support to be real? I believe their attitude could be summed up by: "A plague o' both your houses!" We have said many times that some issues should be set apart from political expediency and the issue of jobs should be one of these.

There were opportunities in the past which we did not take. We are well into the recession at this stage and we are suffering the results of that recession. We are all lucky to be public representatives, well paid with expenses. We should get off the hobby horses once and for all when it comes to issues such as jobs. That would do the House the world of good. It would also serve as an argument in favour of its retention. If we do not get into positive mode, we will leave a great many angry young people abroad and a great many angry young people will leave the county. We are all mature and we are all committed public representatives. However, some issues should be beyond the realm of point-scoring.