Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Calleary knows that budgetary decisions are collective decisions taken by the Cabinet. There is a consultative process and the Minister is open to consultation and giving groups the opportunity to make submissions. The groups have made submissions which, as the Deputy knows, signal that within small businesses, the absence rate is but a little over 2%. This is contrasted with the figure for the public service, where it can be 5%, on average. Clearly, there are germane issues. The Minister for Social Protection, Deputy John Burton, is concerned about the drift into long-term reliance on sickness benefits. This is an important policy issue and we need to have a debate on how the problem can be contained.

These matters will all be weighed up by the Government when making decisions. I agree with the Deputy that we can ill afford anything that would add to competitiveness problems for business. We need to remain competitive and to solve many issues. We need to see emerging from this debate a sensible set of proposals that can restore our economy and public finances.

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