Ms Jackie Harrington:

I thank the Deputy for his comments. On his first question about the cost of the scheme over the longer term, he is absolutely right that we are currently in a very low period of unemployment and the €130 million refers to costs in the current period. The Department did stress-test. We looked back at patterns over the last 23-odd years in terms of the ups and downs in the economy and there has been a lot more buoyancy in the economy then there were shocks. To work out the appropriate costs and the appropriate impacts for the PRSI increase, we analysed that period. The €130 million covers the costs as they are at the moment but in terms of the 0.7% increase in PRSI provided for, 0.2% of that is in respect of the pay-related jobseeker's benefit. That is an average payment that provides headroom to cover recessionary periods and periods of buoyancy. That is there to provide a buffer as such, to cover when we move into more difficult positions.