Mr. Mark Fielding:

We have advocated for this over the last 20 years. As I said earlier, employees are not interested in gross pay; they are interested in take-home pay. The distribution of wealth is the job of the Government rather than the job of employers. If the market dictates that the going rate for a certain job is €10 an hour, for example, a person will be contracted or employed at that rate. The national average wage is approximately €32,000 at the moment. If a person could earn up to approximately two-thirds of that wage, or approximately €21,000, without being taxed or being hit with PRSI and USC, that would distribute the burden that is coming through the tax system. The employer pays the going rate for the job. The Government decides that people need to have a certain amount. We suggest that they should not be taxed up to a certain level. They should be allowed to earn up to €21,000, for example, without being taxed. The pressure or burden should not be placed solely on the employer. That is really the thing. It comes through. We are saying the tax and social welfare systems should take up the difference between what the going rate for the job is - the employer's objective is to get people at the going rate - and what the Government determines to be a living wage or whatever we hear being thrown around at the moment. It should not be the sole responsibility of the employer. If it were, our competitiveness would be in question.