Martin Brady (Fianna Fail)

That is what is happening, and it is mitigating against people in business who wonder if they should bother continuing or shut the doors and stay at home. The local authorities charge people exorbitant prices for water connections. Rates are very high. The local authorities must get their act together in this regard as well.

Senator Quinn made the point about the Government and he is right. It is not the Government's job to create jobs. We must create the environment to enable people create jobs. I asked a person about that one day. People do not start a business with the primary purpose of creating jobs. They start a business to make a profit for themselves but jobs are involved in that.

There are various incentives that can be given to workers. The minimum wage is an issue but there are various incentives available. I know an employer who has a bonus scheme for workers. The more he takes in at the till, the more the worker gets. That is a very good idea.

Some people are involved in worker participation where the workers are involved in management decisions. They bring them in around the management table and ask them their views. It is a good idea to involve workers in that way because it gives them a great interest in their job and shows that the employer values them in every possible way. There are many areas we could examine in that regard.

Another system we all know about is where one wants to check one's PRSI or tax information. A business person made this proposal and it is very sensible. He said there should be one personal database for every citizen. In other words, if someone wanted to inquire about their PRSI, tax or whatever the information would be on one database. The person should not have to go all over the place to get information about themselves, nor should an employer have to do it. There is too much bureaucracy in that regard. One's business is not competitive and therefore there is no incentive to continue.

I welcome the Minister of State. I welcome the PRSI initiative by the Government but we must do much more than that. The main point, and it is being said by people everywhere, is that people should not be better off on the dole than working. There are people getting up at 6 o'clock every morning to go out to work and the person living beside them does not get up until 1 o'clock in the afternoon. They are in pubs and so on and they have no regularity about their lives. That is bad for society. It is a burden on the health service also because it creates social problems, mental problems and various other problems.