Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein)
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I want to ask about this. There has been volatility in the tech sector and we have seen this. Volatility is a very nice way of saying that people have being laid off, which is very traumatic. These are very hard-working people with very high skills. Every time there has been an announcement of lay-offs, the Minister and the previous Minister have said there are loads of vacancies in the sector so that people will find their level. I find it hard to agree with the case being made for a tax credit for taking on workers who have been laid off. Companies are not taking a risk on these people because they are already trained and have a work record in the sector. I do not know whether there is an oversupply but there are certainly vacancies and people who have been recently laid off. It is hard to understand why we would need to incentivise people to take on skilled qualified staff in a market where there appears to be a steady pipeline of skilled and qualified staff. I do not mean this disrespectfully to people who are losing their jobs which is very tough. I find it hard to reconcile the two.