Mr. Gerard Brady:

One thing we learned from during Covid - and it was a credit to the Government of the time - was the introduction of the employment wage subsidy scheme, the EWSS. It kept people attached to their employer at a time of low employment in the first instance. We have a notional short-time work scheme, but it is not as strong as the type of short-time work scheme in place in other European countries. Some sectors that are viable over the short term might have run up stocks to beat the tariffs, for example, and now they will have people on short-time work for a period. This will mean keeping people attached to their employer and putting them in training. Key for us is that this involves going into companies where there are short-term challenges and saying that during that time, we are going to try to get people into training and other supports to ensure they do not lose touch with their employer and are ready to ramp back up when demand comes back. The other types of supports concerned are mainly around marketing and investment in innovation and skills. Companies will face a challenge as they pay more in tariffs. It will depend, ultimately, on who ends up paying them but in the short term it will be the company here. Eventually, they will have to renegotiate with their US counterparts and the consumers. Meanwhile, these companies will have to cut back on things like innovation and training, and this is to the detriment of the whole economy. We must try to support these companies through that situation.