Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Absolutely. I refer to any restrictions that could result in people being laid off having been lifted by 22 January 2022. This legislation brings that date to 31 January 2022, well beyond it. I think we are being very fair in our assessment and that we have got this right legally. We made every effort to cover this situation. It was drafted in conjunction with everyone on this committee. We reflected on all those contributions on a previous Stage. We got Cabinet agreement to go to the end of January and I think anybody would say this is now a fair assessment of the situation. I do not see how it is possible to go beyond that, because it is linked to Government-imposed restrictions that resulted in lay-offs.