Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I dtús báire, ba mhaith liom fáilte a chur roimh an Tánaiste. Gabhaim mo bhuíochas agus ár mbuíochas leis as an méid atá déanta aige ar son muintir na hÉireann, gnóthaí na hÉireann agus tionscal na hÉireann chun tacaíocht a chur in áit dóibh ionas go mbeidh siad ann tar éis na srianta, ionas go mbeidh siad in ann níos mó gnó a dhéanamh, agus an-tábhachtach a bhaineann leis sin ionas go mbeidh an geilleagar in ann teacht chuige féin mar a tháinig le déanaí freisin.

I do not know if the Tánaiste had the opportunity to read the article written by Mr. Stephen Collins for The Irish Timeslast Friday about a book by Mr. Mark Henry called In Fact: An Optimist's Guide to Ireland at 100. It is an important article, primarily pointing out how pessimism is damaging our approach to things. The headline is "Narrative of failure has become so all-pervasive that it is a threat to our future". I agree with much of what was mentioned in the article. Mr. Collins, for example, wrote about a UN study that put Ireland second in the world to Norway in a range of metrics to assess quality of life here. Pessimism has reached an all-time low in the course of this debate, where one Sinn Féin Senator appears to have insinuated that the Tánaiste alone is responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in the developing world, notwithstanding the fact that Ireland is one of the most significant per capitacontributors of vaccines to the developing world. So let us not start with how bad everything is because we know things are bad. I have people ringing me every day telling me how awful it is just listening to "Morning Ireland" each day because there is nothing but a narrative of negativity.

We have in fact done incredibly well. We have one of the most generous schemes to support businesses, employees and people in general in the European Union, if not the world. This does not mean everything is rosy in the garden or we have done everything right. It does, however, mean we should give credit where it is due for a job well done. I acknowledge that to the Tánaiste in the first instance in this debate, although I agree with other Senators who have raised concerns. I know the Tánaiste is aware of them because I raised them with him personally. In fairness, he has always responded positively and effectively because I know he understands them too.

I recognise that my time is up, so I will conclude by saying that we have made enormous progress and we have in place an incredibly effective system. It is not perfect and of course it lets down certain people. Other Senators have referenced sectors that will suffer in particular. We should also recognise the enormous contribution the Government has made in incredibly difficult times.