Since I have been elected to this House, I have heard little or nothing from the other side of the House on job creation. It never seems to feature. It is all about eating the size of the pie, eating the pie that we have and how we are going to cut up the pie. It is never about how we will make more pie. I went to college in 1990 when unemployment was 18%, just coming out of the 1980s. I remember 2012, when we were at 16% unemployment after the crash. Commissioner Hoekstra visited this week and he highlighted the made in Europe narrative and intentions within the European Commission. That provides a real opportunity for Ireland to further develop our domestic economy and build high-value jobs. However, we have to square up and keep job creation at the top of our agenda. What is the Government doing to maintain and develop job creation as a top priority?

I thank the Deputy for the question. In my time taking Leaders' Questions in this House, and let somebody fact check me if I am wrong, I do not ever recall being asked a question about job creation by an Opposition Member during the Leaders' Questions slot, which is interesting. At the moment, the political and often the media discourse just takes full employment for granted. It is a case of "We are at full employment, and sure is that not all grand." Of course, there are people who went to bed last night and lay awake looking at the ceiling wondering how they are going to pay the wage bill at the end of the week or the end of the month. Many of us in this House can say they have done it in past lives and many of us have never had to do that. The first thing we need to do in here is stop coming up with good ideas without working out how small businesses are going to pay for it. That is the first thing.

The second thing is that the Government can help in two ways. It can help in practical ways, whether that is through improved grants, through improving the research and development tax credit or improving the tax system itself by reducing income tax to have some positive effect on both purchasing power but also on wage growth pressure. Sometimes, the Government can also help by getting the hell out of the way if there is too much red tape and too much bureaucracy. The cost of doing business advisory forum has provided well over 60 recommendations that can really help and support.

The first thing we have to do in the budget next week is protect what we have as a country. The conversation about how to divide up the national pie is really important and speaks to our values. How much do you give to education? What about health? All of that is important but what if one day the pie is smaller? That conversation then becomes much harder. We remember those days and we can never forget them.