Feargal Quinn (Independent)

I, too, welcome the Minister of State and the work he has done on the Bill. I apologise for some of the words I used on Second Stage, during which I criticised the Minister of State for announcing he would be tabling amendments. I have looked through the amendments and, as the Minister of State said, they are practically all of a technical nature.

Yesterday morning I was in the business lounge at Heathrow Airport, in which there were quite a few other business people, at least half a dozen of whom were reading The Economist. I looked at a particular page, at which the business people may also have been looking, and noted an advertisement from Austria encouraging businesses to set up in that country. The advertisement stated: "If you are on a quest for countries in Europe with the lowest corporate tax rate, you usually start in the outermost regions of the northwest." Clearly, the advertisement did not want to refer to Ireland by name but alluded to it nevertheless. Those who want to set up in business question whether they should come to Europe in the first place and, if they so decide, they must determine which of the various 25 member states they should set up in. We must recognise we are in a competitive global market and that, even within Europe, we are competing with another 24 countries.

I make this point because I believe the Minister of State has listened very carefully to those who are the customers in this case. It is quite normal and logical to say "appointed by the employer on a basis agreed with employees". It is surely the correct way to proceed in this way rather than by tying the hands of potential employers by saying to them that even if they agree with their employees they are not allowed to appoint somebody. We cannot afford to adopt the latter approach. It seems the Minister of State has thought through this provision well. I urge him not to accept the amendment proposed by Senator O'Toole because his wording is exactly right.