Mary White (Fianna Fail)

It is dangerous because 10% or 100 employees is a very low number in a large company. I speak from practical experience, as do the others who support this change. It is a serious matter and the Minister should reflect seriously on it. The figure should be 15% or 250 employees. Otherwise it will give a wrong signal to large companies. When international investment grew here in the 1970s and 1980s we had 18% or 19% unemployment. I am not confident our economy will stay robust unless we remain competitive. As Senator Quinn said earlier, we do not want to give wrong signals to future investors. We must be careful not to be a rigid bureaucracy. The reason the IDA was so successful in bringing international companies into Ireland was because decisions were made quickly by the IDA and Government. It is very important that we do not send out a wrong signal by saying the figure of 10% or 100 employees is fine.