Mr. Neil McDonnell:

The Deputy will forgive me for not responding to Mr. Phelan because I do not know who he is and I have not seen the tweet. What I will say is that we have been very specific. I have not said the problem is across the board. I referred to four sectors. This is no more anecdotal than the tweet the Deputy has just read out to me. It is a matter of fact in the agriculture sector, in catering and in hospitality. It is a particular issue, let us be honest, in those areas where it is not full-time work that is on offer but, typically, part-time work of the order of 20 hours per week. There is no point in saying to a pub, a hotel or a restaurant - the pubs are not open yet but the restaurants will open next month - "If you employ everyone on a 39-hour week, the problem will go away", or "If you increase your rates of pay, the problem will go away". It will not go away unless we start charging people through the nose. The-----