Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her remarks and her question. What has happened here is not the general impact of inflation, but the cost of energy. The cost of energy for the company has gone up, the value of its product, zinc, has gone down, and the company is now losing a lot of money. As a result of that, it has chosen to close the mine for a temporary period. We will be working very hard with the company to make sure that the apprentices can finish their apprenticeships in other companies, that the staff can be taken back on - because these are temporary redundancies - and the mine can be reopened. That can involve a scheme to help with energy costs, but cannot involve price supports for commodities or zinc. That is not something that the Government can do.

I do not think it is entirely fair to say that the company has entirely socialised this matter entirely. It has been paying 10% employer's PRSI. For every €10 it pays its staff, €1 is paid in employer's PRSI. That is what funds the Social Insurance Fund. That is the money that workers will be getting. It is coming out of the Social Insurance Fund. Most of the money that goes into that fund comes from employer's PRSI.

On the general issue of workers' rights, the Government - just like the previous one - has proven that it is serious about workers' rights. We established a statutory sick pay scheme. I did that myself. It is now the law and people are benefiting from it this year. We have increased the national minimum wage ahead of the rate of inflation nearly every year for the past ten years. We are now moving towards a living wage based on 60% of median income. We have also protected tips and gratuities, for example. Legislation was enacted last year that introduced parental benefit and parental leave. Significant reforms have been made in favour of workers' rights by this Government and by that which preceded it. I am glad we were able to make that progress.

When it comes to the reform of the welfare system, the Minister for Social Protection is developing proposals for what are called pay-related benefits. This is something that I have spoken about before, and something that I strongly support. The left is divided on this, but I appreciate that Labour is in favour of it. This would recognise the fact that somebody who pays more into the PRSI system should get more out if they need it. As a result, is someone becomes unemployed, he or she would not immediately get the basic jobseeker's rate. He or she would get a higher rate because he or should would have been making contributions. That higher rate will be a percentage of a person's income up to a maximum ceiling. The Minister for Social Protection is developing those proposals at the moment, and we wish to press forward with them. Whether it can be in the next budget or not, I cannot say at this stage. There will be an associated cost that will mean higher PRSI contributions. If higher PRSI contributions result in higher benefits, however, then the case is worth making.

See this speech in context