Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the gentlemen very much for coming here this afternoon. Reference was made to corporate tax and volatile tax, and the use thereof. Does the ESRI see any benefit in using windfalls from these taxes to deal with crises like, for example, the housing crisis that exists now in the country? We cannot guarantee these taxes into the future but could we use what is there to meet immediate crises needs?

The witness also spoke of temporary contracts and part-time contracts. It is no secret that these zero-hour type contracts are extremely penal and have found their way into every part of Irish society, including the public service, academia, the education system and the health service. There is a move now by the Government to outlaw the zero-hour contract, but if that leaves the facility for part-time contracts then we must be cognisant that the quality of work available, quite apart from job satisfaction, leads to all sorts of other knock-on effects as referred to by Professor Barrett. Do the witnesses believe there should be a minimum contract or that all contracts of employment should have saleable aspects to them, from the point of view of being able to live one's life? I note from past experience that a person with a temporary contract cannot get a mortgage or loans and all sorts of other effects kick in. That ultimately must be a downward spiral for the economy itself. It cannot help the homeless situation if people cannot get mortgages.

With regard to third level funding, I have always believed that every family and every parent now wants their child to gain third level qualifications from universities or institutes of technology. We seem to have lost the desire to have practical or hand based skills and do not assign equal parity of esteem to the trades sector. I would be interested to hear the witnesses' views on this. We have set up an apprentice body to look at the area of apprenticeships but what else can be done to provide parity of esteem to those who enter apprentice roles rather than going the academic route? When I see a college graduation I wonder how many carpenters, electricians and mechanics might be lost to us and are now walking around with BA degrees or whatever. This feeds in to the concept of over education. Call centres are now looking for people with honours degrees to answer phones in insurance and other services. It seems like total nonsense to me to need those sorts of qualifications to answer a phone.

I will now turn to foreign direct investment as we go through Brexit. We can see part of it happening already. I was away at the weekend with an EU group and the group dealt with two languages, namely, Italian and English. In some cases, such as with a meeting yesterday of a group, the language chosen was French. I wonder if Ireland's reliance on being an English speaking country for foreign direct investment is going to be an important factor as we move forward in a new Europe?

I also wish to discuss the role of Ireland's banks as good citizens. On this morning's Order of Business in the Seanad I brought up the issue of banks refusing mortgages to couples because they do not have savings, yet the average couple in Dublin is paying out €1,500 or €1,600 per month in rent. Why can this outlay not be taken into account when calculating their capacity to pay? What are the witnesses' views on that?

Deputy Durkan spoke about the future of the European Union. Leaving aside Brexit, my final point concerns the threat to the European Union of the massive problem of refugees, economic migrants, asylum seekers or whatever terminology one wants to use. This weekend I had first-hand experience of the lack of solidarity from European partners in respect of their views on how this problem should be dealt with. Do the witnesses see this issue as a threat to the solidarity, and hence the future, of the European project? We all want to benefit but very few of us actually want to take the pain that goes with our role as good Europeans. I thank the witnesses for their time and I apologise for throwing all those questions together.