Mr. Paul O'Hara:

This is my second time in the Houses of the Oireachtas as we briefed the Seanad a few months ago. I have been most impressed by the dialogue, questioning and creativity. That is an aside.

In response to Deputy Boyd Barrett’s point, there is no doubt that this is a trade-off, but on balance, the upside by far outstrips the downside. It is not about begging; it is a trade. This is a product that can be sold. It is a good trade for the citizen. I remember Chuck Feeney saying that people used to come to him looking for €1 million. That was the price point which they always used to request. He asked if one had ever considered writing a cheque for €1 million; putting down the six zeros after the one. It is an incredibly difficult thing to do because it is a huge sum of money. I do not think this is an insubstantial amount of money for the majority of people we are talking about.

There are many great ideas that are ready to scale that will create guaranteed jobs. There are some good suggestions about how to finesse that and make it tighter. We have to work on it but I hope the committee will recommend going ahead with the proposal.