John Lahart (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests. I will set my timer for ten minutes again. If one is around for long enough, one finds that history repeats itself. I worked in Albert Reynolds's Government in 1992 when we had the devaluation and there was precisely what Mr. O'Brien just spoke about, that is, assistance for industry. The devaluation happened and we had interest rates of 15% and 16%, which makes everything that is happening today seem mild in comparison. A scheme for business was introduced and it involved not just loans but also grant aid.

There have been four contributors to this session today, all of whom have been really interesting but only NERI mentioned the war as a backdrop in its opening remarks. I am going to repeat a point I made earlier today because it is really important to note that energy has been weaponised as part of this process. We are in the position we are in because Russia invaded Ukraine. If there is any disconnect between public understanding of that and what the public is experiencing and what we are going to ask the public to endure in the coming months, that is not a good thing for the European Union. One of President Putin's primary objectives for a long time has been to destabilise the EU.

Any loss of will in the face of the arduous circumstances and the trying period ahead plays into his hands. I am disappointed in three of the four presentations today. They present the problem as though this is what is happening in the world economically without rooting it in its fundamental cause, particularly in the European Union and Ireland. There are other allied causes but its fundamental cause is the Russian invasion of Ukraine, particularly when it comes to rising energy prices.

I want to raise several points on IBEC's presentation. Mr. O'Brien is straight up with his title as director of lobbying and influence. Nobody is hiding behind anything in IBEC. It is straight up in our face and it is refreshing. There are several points I would like to tease out. Mr. O'Brien fleshed out a little bit on the emergency supports. With regard to labour costs, he said Government policy in the labour market is loading significant cost pressure onto businesses, particularly SMEs. I ask him to speak a little more on this.