Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE)
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Does the Minister of State accept that what happened here was effectively a form of shock doctrine? Effectively, something was presented as being essential for the moment - responding to a situation of mass unemployment where companies were feeling the heat, etc. - and that we had to do something. Then it was made permanent. The ESB's opening statement refers to this as "enduring", as in it would roll over year after year without any meaningful review. The point was fairly made that someone on this committee should have said "Stop" but similarly someone in the Government should have said "Stop". It was wrong to implement an effectively permanent measure, unless otherwise decided, in response to what was a particular circumstantial, temporary situation.