The Tánaiste mentioned earlier that a special Cabinet meeting will be held to deal with the unemployment crisis. More than 430,000 people are on the live register.

On 29 September the Government announced the strategic investment fund. As part of that announcement it indicated that legislative change would be needed to allow for resources to be channelled from the National Pensions Reserve Fund into the productive economy. It is now 2013 and the legislative programme was published yesterday. This legislation is not due for publication this term and the heads of the Bill have not even been agreed. The strategic investment fund was supposed to be a major plank in the Government's strategy to get people back to work. Given that it was announced nearly one and a half years ago but the legislation has not even come before the House, when will the amendment to the National Pensions Reserve Fund legislation be brought to the House to allow for the channelling of funds sitting in the NPRF into the domestic economy to help get people back to work?

The important part of the narrative that Deputy Doherty omitted was the announcement last year by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform of a stimulus package worth €2.25 billion, which relates directly to the National Pensions Reserve Fund and the strategic investment fund. The way in which the strategic investment fund and the NPRF will be dealt with is among the issues that will be considered by the Government in the context of our discussion on jobs.