Mr. Neil McDonnell:

What we are saying is that employers and employees pay into a Social Insurance Fund. What does that mean? What is insurance? Insurance - for example, home insurance or car insurance - is a payment against a contingency. If something goes wrong, the insured party takes money from that fund. What the Deputy is saying, however, is that employers and employees, especially higher earning workers, who pay even more money into that fund, should continue to pay into it. He is saying employers should not get any benefit from the fund for paying employees who are ill. That does not make sense.