Mr. Gerard Brady:

In order to get fixed-price contracts, and to try to get a fixed price at the outset, the risk is transferred to the private sector. If anything goes wrong the private sector gets the risk. This means the private sector then charges more at the outset, anticipating this risk will happen. I am happy to share more detail on this with the committee. As I stated, another issue is that the decision-making timelines are a lot longer in public sector projects.

On the PRSI rebate, again it would probably be targeted. There are companies significantly under pressure because of the cost of Government-imposed changes in regulated wages. We state that in order to help these companies the best way to approach a labour market cost problem is to support them through PRSI. This would be very focused on a small number of companies.

With regard to new apartments, VAT and development levies, in effect it is too expensive to build apartments in this country. This is why we have seen apartment building collapse. There are many ways to reduce the cost of apartments, some of which the Government has already undertaken, but VAT and development levies are the quickest way to reduce costs tomorrow.

On tariff supports, not everyone will need them but specific companies will need them to be able to build new markets. It is not like Covid. We are not trying to keep the doors open; we are trying to give people the opportunity and support to find new markets where they might not have the resources.

On the research and development tax credit, three or four years ago our research and development tax credit was probably in the top three in the world but other countries have passed us out. If we look at the multinational sector, a research and development tax credit is something that can send a signal to people that we are still being competitive for these types of investments. Infrastructure, housing and skills are all more important in the long term but something could happen on 1 January on the research and development tax credit. It would be the most immediate response to the current environment.