Jackie Cahill (Tipperary, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State has recognised that there is a problem. The procurement process needs to be re-examined. Small local companies are at a severe disadvantage and we are not helping. Often we talk here about what we can do for rural Ireland. This legislation is not helping and it has to be re-examined. We must put a level playing field in place so that local contractors themselves can win the contracts rather than going in as subcontractors where they have no rights.

Deputy Scanlon referred to unsecured creditors getting 1.75% of what they were owed when a company went into voluntary examinership. I will not name here the company that did it locally in my constituency but in the middle of January, it went into voluntary examinership. On 24 April, the company came back out of voluntary examinership and then traded away as normal again. Unfortunately, the company's local subcontractors only got paid 1.75% of what they were owned. No local businesses can carry that kind of a burden where a man who is owed €50,000 or €60,000 only gets paid a fraction of that. This has to change. The legislation has to change. This voluntary examinership is not working.

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