Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I will be brief. It has been mentioned that a referendum on patents will be taking place in the State this year. That could be an ideal time for a referendum on upward-only rent reviews also. Some 50,000 jobs have been lost in the retail sector in recent years and 30,000 more are in danger. This is a key competitive problem. The Departments are landlords with upward-only rent reviews. I do not have the most up-to-date figures but halfway through last year there were hundreds of contracts with tenants. I am aware of one firm in Donegal which lost its business with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine as a result of the upward-only rent policy.

In regard to Tara Mines, my request is that the Minister go to the management in an effort to ensure that the business does not go down the route of using an aggressive threat against the workers to seek a reduction in their wages.