Mr. Ger Gibbons:

I wish to agree 100% with everything Dr. McDonnell has said. It is something we have looked at carefully over the last number of years. The justification or conclusion we reached is that when it was originally introduced in 2011, there may have been a jobs impact initially, but that quickly dissipated in response to other things that happened around the same time. If you look back to the costs going back to 2011, they are over €3 billion or so, I think. It seems to us that the various lobby groups arguing in favour of these measures are putting all of their efforts into this and not really addressing the challenges this sector faces. The Deputy mentioned working conditions. The poor and precarious working conditions for people who work in this sector are the big issues in the sector. These are the things that should be addressed. The other key point is that, as we have highlighted again and again, this is going to a sector that refuses to engage in the State's industrial relations machinery. Instruments have been put in place by this Parliament that are effectively being vetoed by a lobby group. That is the situation we are in. It is completely going down the wrong road.