Dr. Laura Bambrick:

I will take the Deputy’s second question first, and then I will let my colleague come in. It did dip for a while and then last year it went up. That is because we are seeing many more young workers entering the workforce because of the tightness of the labour market. The Deputy might have heard representatives from the hospitality industry speak about how when the schools and colleges reopened they were having real staffing problems because much of the previously available labour was not there. We have seen an increase in 2021 and 2022 but it had reduced.

We have to remember as well that our workforce has been growing and has never been as large as it is now.

There were lots of good things about the State supports during the Covid crisis. Not only were they generous but they have been one of the longest-running supports. Unlike in other jurisdictions, when they were removed, there has been not been the tsunami here we were told to expect. My colleague wants to come in at this point.