Mr. Vincent Jennings:

The first principle is that this problem did not start on budget day. Perhaps we should have had more foresight and sought the permission of the European Commission a little earlier, rather than seeking permission to grant us state aid when it was patently obvious that this matter was a problem. Since March, we have had problems with people who are out of contract.

However, it was not the entirety because of the nature of the contracts. People were on two-year and one-year contracts. There are some fortunate people who are just this month going out of contract so they have not had any increases. We have already circulated some figures on this. Those people who were hit in March, April and May have suffered enormous increases. Ms Timothy is one of them and Ms Crowe is another. There are people who are supposed to sustain an additional €15,000 or €18,000. The Senator asked about the percentage. What we need more than anything else is to accept that this figure needs to be increased beyond September-----