Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)

On the final point made by the Minister, what I am saying is that there are different redundancy schemes in different countries. If a firm in Ireland wants to downsize and must make a certain number of people redundant in order to survive, it will cost the firm two and a half times per person more than it would in the United Kingdom, which is our nearest neighbour and competitor. That is an anti-jobs measure in anyone's language.

The Minister said there was consultation about a range of issues. The issue of making employers carry more of the burden for sick pay is firmly back on the agenda. Employers and business people from one end of the country to the other - a wide and representative section of business - have been contacting us to express their concerns. This is creating uncertainty at a time when we need certainty. It raises the spectre of higher costs in business when we need to be reducing costs.

Where does the Minister stand on the issue himself? Surely, as Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, he is opposed in principle to the idea of loading extra costs onto job creators. The Minister referred to various studies, consultations and so on. He will be aware that Forfás has already done a report, last November, on the exact effect of such a proposal on jobs and competitiveness. Can the Minister tell us what that report says, or will he undertake to publish it so we can see for ourselves?

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