Mr. Paul Egan:

Let me explain the knock-on effects. If you expand the pool of preferential creditors then you disadvantage other creditors. The other creditors include businesses that have employees of their own. We know that where there is a large insolvency then a lot of employers will suffer insolvency themselves with a consequential knock-on effect.

In terms of the review group with all its stakeholders, there is no perfect solution in a situation like this because, frankly, an insolvency is a most imperfect situation. The consistent aim is to develop a nuanced approach to all of this. When the Companies Bill, which became the Companies Act 2014, was being enacted the issue of preferential payments was considered and, in fact, the Revenue advantage was tweaked in a particular way. It is a process all of the time. I wanted to clarify that it is not as though the review group is aligned one way or the other. It seeks to come up with a consensus with a nuanced conclusion.