Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

According to the CSO figures for last year, 1,600 people were emigrating from Ireland every week, which is a frightening statistic. We need to talk urgently about why so many Irish people are leaving the country, many of whom actually have jobs. Why are they leaving? I would like to have that issue discussed. The culture of austerity and negativity is driving people away. We need people like the Greek Prime Minister and Minister for Finance. They are being ridiculed in the British and Irish media, but they will fight their cause at the highest level. We need leaders like them who have the fire and the passion to lift the spirits of the people. That is why 1,600 people are leaving our little country every week and most of them are not coming back. Last autumn the ESRI published a report which found that many of the mothers of the young people who had emigrated were suffering from depression.