Feargal Quinn (Independent)

My daughter graduated from Trinity College Dublin in 1987. Similar to what is happening these days, 37 of the 38 people in her group emigrated the following day. It was interesting to hear the Prime Minister of Portugal yesterday encouraging young people there to emigrate, which brings to mind what happened here in 1987, namely, the response of the then Government, under the late Charles J. Haughey, to Dermot Desmond's proposal for the Financial Services Centre which proved successful and the steps taken to encourage businesses to gain confidence. Senator Ó Domhnaill referred earlier to barber shops and other small shops. The success we need in our economy is not likely to come from one big enterprise. Senator Leyden also drew our attention earlier to the proposal from Mr. Eddie O'Connor in regard to electricity and wind power. The Government needs to ensure that every step taken encourages job creation and does not place barriers in the way of employment. One such barrier is the proposal that small businesses will bear the cost of sick pay which up to now was met by the State. We must find a way of ensuring small businesses are encouraged to start up and create jobs.

I heard yesterday that the British Government is investigating if it can put in place a barrier to Greek people entering the United Kingdom. The fear is that if Greece leaves the eurozone there will be huge emigration from Greece to Britain. If Britain is to put in place such a barrier, will we be able to protect ourselves given our open relationship with Britain? Following the collapse of the Argentinian economy in 2001, huge difficulties arose in terms of emigration. The concern is that if something similar happens in Greece, the same problems will arise again. We need to ensure we are not threatened by such difficulties, in particular if Britain is to put in place barriers in respect of the migration into Britain of people from other parts of the European Union.