Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Therefore, there is legal opinion that says it is constitutionally possible to do it. The Government did not seem to have any constitutional difficulty when it decided to set up NAMA and it did not seem to have any constitutional difficulty when it decided to revise unilaterally the contracts of the employees of the State last year when it cut their pay, but it suddenly wraps itself in the Constitution when it comes to protecting the interests of landlords and some of these very property developers who have landed us in this difficulty in the first place. That is what the Government's constitutional problem is about.

This is a positive measure. I hold here a letter from a businesswoman in my constituency who states that some landlords are now being inflexible and seem happy enough to let good businesses sink while they swim. That summarises it in a nutshell.

If the Taoiseach thinks there is a constitutional problem with this, let him publish the Attorney General's advice and let us see it. What is the big secret? Our advice is that the proposal that the Labour Party is putting this evening is perfectly constitutional and is perfectly possible to implement. It is a measure that would provide significant help to the retail sector, would help to protect jobs and would help to ensure that there is an opportunity for people to get future employment in the retail sector.

Instead of putting up obstacles and telling us why he cannot do it, will the Taoiseach join us and the other parties in this House in doing something positive today? We should send out some kind of a signal from this House that the Government is concerned about jobs other than its own, the jobs of the people working in shops and businesses up and down this country who are at risk and who are worried about losing those jobs. We should send out some signal that the Government is on their side and will agree to this proposal tonight from the Labour Party that would allow for downward revision of rents and that would keep good retail businesses in operation with the employment that belongs to them.

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