Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)

To be helpful to the Minister of State in view of the shortage of staff, I refer to the organisation called the National Employment Rights Authority, NERA. I have suggested for a long time that it should be called the national business support agency. The staff from that authority should be transferred or seconded to the Competition Authority because in they main they are engaged in persecuting small businesses, instead of doing the job they are meant to do. After the enactment of this Bill, those officers should be given the powers proposed therein. These people are well trained and are used to flashing cards and being tough on employers. I suggest they be put on the other side of the fence.

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