John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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It is good to see the delegation here which I have met on a couple of occasions.

I was struck by what Mr. Colin Fee said in respect of the generous social welfare system and that there is not an incentive to work. The latest ESRI report published in July states differently. It finds that six out of seven people would be better off in work due to the social protection policies been put in that have place. That is the latest evidence-based data available. The ESRI, which is the research body of the State, indicates that, as of now, almost six out of seven people would be better off in work. I checked it while sitting here just to make sure I got it right.

The other issue is on parking fees. Although I agree that something needs to be done, we cannot get away from the fact that out-of-town centres, whether we like it or not, paid a development levy on their parking spaces during the planning permission stage. That is the position. How are we to deal with that issue? We cannot ignore that essential ingredient whereby they had paid for those spaces when developing those out-of-town centres. If there is another creative way of levelling the playing pitch I would like to hear it.

I agree with the witness in respect of the black economy. The witnesses appeared before the committee previously on this issue. It is great to hear the good news today but most certainly we are not at the races when it comes to the black economy and it is the companies represented here who are losing out. What does plain packaging do? I understand from a public policy point of view what it is trying to achieve but I am not sure whether there is enough research as of now, from other countries, such as Australia which has led on this issue, whether it has an impact on public health policy. It will definitely impact negatively on the businesses, which some of the witnesses are representing here today.