Peter Roche (Galway East, Fine Gael)

Apologies for my late attendance, which was due to the health committee next door, which was fundamentally important as well. There is more good in this for the employee than there is for the employer is the way I see it. My initial concerns are for small and medium enterprises and those type of employers. Some of them are operating on very thin margins. Any additional financial burden on them will certainly be of concern. My question is about an impact assessment of this and could it lead to job losses, reduced hours or elements like that. That is my concern. As I mentioned, some of them are operating on a very small margin and some might be discouraged from employing more as a consequence of this financial burden.