Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The level of support the two Deputies are referring to involve the breadth and speed that have made such a difference in protecting our country at a time of significant risk to jobs and our public health. When claims are being made about the future of those supports, let us also acknowledge that those supports were introduced by this and the previous Governments and have saved jobs and protected incomes at a time our country was at significant risk.

I listened to the suggestions put forward by the Deputies regarding the TWSS. A person working on repairs to accommodation for one of these companies may be in receipt of payments under the scheme. If the Government goes down the path of withdrawing the scheme, and a foreperson, carpenter or person looking after student accommodation loses his or her job as a result of that decision, will the two Deputies take responsibility for that? They will correctly say that it is the responsibility of the Government based on the decisions it has made.

The role of the wage scheme and its future is to keep people at work. The issues the Deputies referred to are very serious. Progress has to be made on them, and I will offer any help I can to the Ministers for Education and Skills or Housing, Planning and Local Government in that regard. I am not going to jeopardise jobs in our country through changing the scheme to deliver other objectives. I have to keep in mind that people in the companies to which the Deputies referred could depend on the scheme for their jobs. I have a duty to them.

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