Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

Is the Minister of State saying that the redundancy figures, the trend of which is far worse than the trend of the live register figures, indicate that more stable employment is being lost? That, in itself, is a very worrying trend. I would like to ask about those figures. Would a person who has been in a part-time role with a company for a considerable period of time, over the two-year threshold, be covered under the calculations for redundancy figures? Given that the Tánaiste has now reviewed the scheme of supports for businesses and has now admitted the focus was to narrow initially — it has proven the criticisms we had of the employment subsidy scheme in the first instance — is it not the case that we have now lost valuable time in supporting the type of business we need to support which is struggling at the moment? What are the current delays in processing the employers' refunds for redundancy payments? There is an appalling delay of seven or eight months for employers who are struggling to cope with their cash flows at present.

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