Regina Doherty (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The section in itself is entirely based on recompensing the people whose businesses we are closing, but I am far more worried about the 35 or 36 people who are losing their jobs because the State is intervening. We have a responsibility to make sure those people are compensated for the jobs we are closing down. We also have an absolute obligation to make sure we reskill and retrain them, and put them back into a workplace market that is crying out for new skills.

I am genuinely asking the Minister of State to reconsider. I not only contacted my Whip today but my party leader, who happens to be the current Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Varadkar, to ask him to beg the Minister of State to reconsider having these amendments withdrawn, especially amendment No. 6 to section 7, in addition to reflecting and recommitting to return to the House on Report Stage to ensure we give the 34 workers who are losing their jobs better than statutory redundancy and that we give them a fund to retrain, reskill and point them towards new jobs in the industry.