Cyprian Brady (Fianna Fail)

The Longford Leader will be all the better for the contribution of the past 12 minutes. I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I remember a time, more than 20 years ago, when stage payments were an issue in Dublin. Fortunately this is no longer an issue. The question is how we should approach the problem. We all agree that the practice must end. The Minister of State and his Department have been working steadily towards that goal for many years. It probably has not been as quick as everyone would like but the question now arises as to whether we will achieve the goal through legislation or by agreement. The Bill before us uses a jack hammer to crack a nut. Even as late as yesterday, progress was being made on this matter. We must acknowledge that the construction industry employs more than 200,000 people in this country, a situation created by the policies of this Government.

Unfortunately, when Fine Gael and the Labour Party had their chance, they were not in a position to do anything about improving conditions. Despite that, the Labour Party is hypocritically criticising an industry employing a huge number of people, many of whom are members of unions and, through no choice of their own, contribute to the party's coffers. It makes me smile to hear Labour Members rabbiting on — I ask Senators to excuse the expression — about the tent in Galway.