Mr. Jerry King:

I thank the Chairman. Deputy Lahart's question on training deserves more of an answer. Ms Clarke and I are acutely aware, as lay activists in the places we work, that in both our employments and across almost all the public service employments, budgets for training disappeared almost overnight. Since the crash, and until relatively recently when there has been a small bit of clawback, almost all of the training we have had to do with our jobs, personal development and everything else, has been through the various trade unions. As Mr. Cody has said, much of this training happened on evenings and Saturdays. It was critical for continuous personal development. The actual value of tax relief on union subscriptions should not be discounted. It could be hugely important to people, even towards putting diesel, petrol or a battery in to their car to bring them to this training.