Tony McCormack (Offaly, Fianna Fail)

There is more work we need to do with regard to competitiveness. The witnesses talked about infrastructure and, as they said in their opening statements, housing. Housing is a vital one. In order for us to get people in here to do jobs that need to be done, we have to house them not just in housing but low-cost, value-for-money housing. That is something we are very cognisant of. There is huge political will at the moment to do this. I would say watch this space going forward. We have heard from the likes of the witnesses, IBEC and other industry leaders what the issues are and we will, definitely, work towards that as a Government in the next number of years.

I have a question for Mr. Talbot. Chambers Ireland is a great lobby group for businesses right across the country.

In other countries - America, for instance - when one is in business one automatically pays into the chamber of commerce fund. Over the years, there has been a drop in the number of businesses that are active in chambers of commerce, and indeed in the number of chambers, in this country. Does Mr. Talbot think we should have something in place to ensure businesses contribute directly to Chambers Ireland? Should we put a small tax in place and allow the money to be distributed to the likes of Chambers Ireland as a lobby group for businesses?