Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)

Yes, indeed. The Minister of State and his officials might give some consideration to that definition. It is narrow enough not to cause problems in the legislation the Minister of State envisages. I wonder whether the legislation is too late. I worry that the horse has bolted. The construction industry is, in effect, at a standstill. One hopes that when it comes back to some sort of normal level this protection will be in place. I do not suspect there is any possibility, given the lack of resources, of some sort of compensation fund for those companies that have been stung in recent years. Many genuine people have been stung. In the briefing notes to the legislation reference is made to bonds, insurance policies and suchlike, but unfortunately, they were not in place. Insurance is something one wishes one had on a rainy day, but one did not. Many good people have struggled to keep their businesses afloat. These are people who genuinely thought that because the HSE or local authority, for example, were responsible for a building they would pay the bills and that everything would be grand. The local authority or HSE discharges responsibility to the main contractor, but unfortunately the food chain down the line did not see any benefit.

I welcome the publication of the Bill. As the Minister of State, Deputy Brian Hayes, indicated, it is a tribute to Senator Feargal Quinn in particular that he has stuck with the Bill. He has done a lot of work on it. It would be beneficial if we could aspire not to go into another session with this work unfinished. I understand that many speakers will wish to contribute on Second Stage but there is no reason the Bill should not go through Committee Stage quickly. I suspect the Bill will have to go back to the Seanad. If we could complete it between now and the middle of July we will have done some sort of service to those who are very badly exposed in the construction sector at the moment.

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