Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)

I welcome the announcement that the Minister of State intends to appoint more people to that section, which is important. However, the Government has made several commitments recently. It committed to paying its bills on time and to paying redundancy refunds on time, but these commitments are not being honoured. As a customer, the Government is putting businesses out of business, because it will not pay the money it owes for services provided within a reasonable timeframe, that is, between ten and 14 days, nor will it pay for redundancy refunds which are paid from employers' PRSI, let us not forget. They are refunds. As a result, more businesses are going to the wall and more jobs are being lost. Does the Minister of State accept responsibility for his Department's inefficiency and the fact that it is causing more people to lose their jobs in addition to those jobs the Government has already destroyed? Will the Government give a cast iron commitment or when will it honour its commitment to pay all its bills within 14 days? Who will resign if that commitment is not delivered?

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