Mr. A. J. Noonan:

The aggregation of contracts to which Deputy Anthony Lawlor referred is a significant issue. Most of the companies which win these large contracts are not Irish companies; accordingly, we are losing out. I suggest we talk some sense to the Minister in this regard. The French are very good at keeping contracts small and in their own economy. The Minister of State, Deputy Sean Sherlock, spoke about creating the environment for business. In many ways, the environment is hostile to business. The aggregation of contracts will destroy jobs in the economy.

Mr. Martin spoke about redundancy rebates. When a company has to let someone go, instead of letting go of one person, it will let the whole workforce go. Then we will have a bigger problem. It is incumbent on the committee to make strong recommendations in that regard.