Joe O'Toole (Independent)

No, it is not. The Minister has been given a false trade on this matter. I will resign my seat if she can provide information to support her contention that this measure would cost millions of euro. I have been listening to a similar argument since 2002.

We must abandon the idea that companies must engage consultants to tell then they are complying with the law. Consultants are precisely the people one does not want running a company. A publican running a company must ensure he complies with strict legislative requirements on matters such as opening and closing times, who he may employ and where he may employ them, the display of signs and so on. As with individuals running companies in other areas, he ensures he is in compliance with a check list.

The Minister's comment on pharmaceutical companies was close to libellous. Perhaps she is unaware of the steps directors of such companies must take to ensure compliance. The requirements they must meet before signing off on anything are above and beyond those required of other groups. Pharmaceutical firms are surely the most compliant of all companies. If a director of such a company believes there is a 0.01% chance that any aspect of a medication is dodgy, the product will be destroyed.

I was informed by an individual at a briefing I received on this issue last month that he had not slept for an entire weekend because he had refused to sign off on a material that his company was placing on the market, a decision that cost his company, a large, well-known international pharmaceutical firm, €27 million. He said he had no choice in the matter because he was unable to tick all the boxes and strict criteria had not been met somewhere along the line.

I also asked a professor of business about the argument being made by the Minister. Incidentally, her argument is as old as the hills. It begins with a thesis that company directors do not bother or could not care less about environmental or health and safety legislation. This is completely unfair to decent company directors who try to cope within the law.