Mary White (Fianna Fail)

The Minister will remember that at the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation yesterday his own colleague from Kildare, Deputy Lawlor, spoke about having legislation in wording and language that the layperson can understand. The word "desirability" is unnecessary and dilutes the necessity for the system to maintain fair and reasonable rates. I cannot see anything wrong with changing it, despite what the Attorney General might say, or with deleting "the desirability of agreeing and maintaining" and substituting "the agreeing and maintaining of".

We have an unemployment epidemic in this country, with the latest figures at 14.9%. What is frightening is that more than half of the people unemployed have been unemployed for 12 months or more and information given by Deputy Willie O'Dea in the Dáil suggests that almost one in three has been unemployed for two years or more, which is shocking. Unemployment and the creation of employment is the No. 1 issue. Fianna Fáil supports the amendment.