Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have two observations regarding the amendment. A constituent who is a subcontractor on a State contract contacted me recently. The State was about to pay the main contractor but there was a significant danger that if the cheque was paid to the banking institution dealing with the main contractor's banking arrangements, the funds would not be released subsequently to pay anybody because of the precarious nature of the main contractor's financial circumstances. That is something of which we must be conscious.

I understand where Deputy Fleming is coming from in tabling this amendment. He is sending a signal to all and sundry that somebody has received perhaps substantial amounts of State funding but it might not only be the subcontractors who might turn up at the main contractor's door. Other guys in balaclavas could turn up as well. That is a legitimate concern and, therefore, I am not so sure about this amendment.