Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

There is no cover here as between the subcontractor and the main contractor. The main contractor has cover. He gets paid when his payment is certified. The essence of the whole Bill is to help subcontractors rather than main contractors to get paid. We are assuming most main contractors get paid. The issue and the genesis of the legislation is not to guarantee the protection of the payment to the main contractor, which must happen. Nothing can happen if the main contractor does not get paid. While the essence of the Bill is to ensure subcontractors get paid, the Minister of State appears to be clarifying the mechanism to ensure the main contractor is paid by the awarding authority. I thought our emphasis today was to guarantee-----