James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael)

I agree that, on the face of it, five sounds like a very small number. However, as it constitutes an increase of 25%, I ask the Senator to await developments in the next couple of weeks to ascertain how this affects the service. If it does not have the desired result, I certainly will convey the Senator's concerns to the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Joan Burton, who is particularly concerned about this issue. As the period coming up to Christmas will be a difficult one, the Government certainly does not wish to leave people feeling uncertain regarding their redundancy payments any longer than is necessary.