Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick East, Fine Gael)

That is good to hear. The Deputy's party might come back and we will give it more.

According to the ESRI, up to half our general Government deficit came about because of unemployment. We cannot come out of this crisis without dealing with the issue of unemployment, getting people back to work and ensuring that employers can keep people in work. We put forward a proposal today which would deal with employers' tax cuts. We would cut the lower rate of 8.5% in employers' PRSI to 4.25% and would take 2% off the top rate of tax, from 10.75% to 8.75%, for people earning up to €40,000. That would impact on more than 1.6 million employees and 100,000 employers. There would be enormous benefits. For every person who does not go on social welfare, the State would save €20,000.

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