uncompetitive 'job protection scheme'

[z107]

So it seems that Mary Coughlan has launched a 'job protection scheme'
http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/0806/jobs.html

Looks fine and dandy, and on the surface seems to be a good idea. However, this part is very worrying:

To qualify for the scheme companies must not have been in difficulty on 1 July 2008, must employ at least ten full-time staff and must be likely to have to consider redundancies within 12 months.

This is putting smaller companies at a huge disadvantage. Many indigenous Irish companies compete with larger (often foreign companies with a 'base' in Ireland).
This scheme should either be available for all companies, or dropped.