Feargal Quinn (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I think I will upset the six witnesses by saying a minimum wage is not the way to go. The witnesses should accept that each time the union demands more money from an employer, it weakens the chance of that employer taking on more employees. That cannot be in the unions’ interest or the employees’ interest. It is much more important they have a job than that they take so much money off the employer they put the company out of business.

In my company many years ago the question of a national pay rise cropped up. We decided we wanted the best employees to come to us. We automatically paid everybody an increase. Other employers, our competitors and the employers’ organisations criticised it. Within a very short time ours was the place where people wanted to work. They came to us and their brothers, sisters, cousins and neighbours tried to get jobs with us. I can think of five of our non-Irish competitors which went the other way and cut costs. They were all gone within ten years. This case is not being taken into account. Every time the unions pressurise an employer to pay costs that make him less competitive, they damage his opportunity to employ more people and to pay more. What we did many years ago worked very well. We paid more and became the best employer.

It happened last week in the United States where Walmart, the biggest retailer in the world, announced that it would give an increase to its 500,000 employees. It gave as the reason that it wanted the best employees. That was not its policy in the past. That is the case the unions should make, rather than forcing it on employers which are having difficulty now, as many are. The unions could find a different way of encouraging them to succeed, and I take Mr. Light’s point that very few have actually gone to the point of claiming inability to pay. The way to go about it is to encourage the employer to do a better job, to get the best employees, to pay more and I believe they will succeed on that basis. The living wage concept is fine but the minimum wage is the wrong direction. The unions should change their attitude. That is a comment for all the witnesses.