Dr. Peter Rigney:

Yes, listed on the ISEC index on the Dublin Stock Exchange. Otherwise there is a veil of corporate secrecy. There are other people, who I will not name, who have to be taken into account. The report found significant levels of increase in pay, made up by a decrease in basic pay and an increase in what are known as long-term investment plans. It is almost impossible to compare one of these to another, because they are weighted in different ways. The report named good practice when we saw it and commended companies for reporting in a particular way. It made the point that companies listed in Dublin have to concur with the London Stock Exchange code of practice. There is much dissatisfaction on the London exchange in terms of executive pay in Britain. The issue came up in Teresa May's first speech as Prime Minister, although she subsequently drew back from it. That issue is still causing anger in the London system, and it will appear in the Dublin exchange. ICTU intends to update that report annually, and will be producing a new report around the turn of the year. That pressure will, if anything, become more intense. This year we have added Irish companies which are listed in London but not in Dublin.

In terms of the cost of doing business we are talking about a small number of people, but it causes a demonstration effect within the economy as a whole. SMEs and owner-managers do not figure in that. However, a man who described himself as a grandee of the London Stock Exchange said that people who are essentially managerial employees are reaping the rewards of corporate entrepreneurs who have put their house or their wealth on the line. That is the disconnect.

One of the things that I have always been impressed with is the quality of the Oireachtas research service. If I am a business owner and my truck driving contractor allows three crates of food to rot through lack of due diligence and I want to sue it, what is the cost of settling that claim in a selected number of countries? If I have an insurance claim for a given injury, what is the cost of settling that in a number of countries? These are the "unknown unknowns", to quote Donald Rumsfeld, but they present very significant costs to businesses. How much does public liability cost in Britain and Denmark and what does it have to be insured against? From speaking to SME owners, insurance is a key issue. Much of the responsibility for this is in the hands of the insurance industry. It can organise its work more collaboratively - having regard to the rights of data protection - to monitor claims, etc. Perhaps it is not for me to say, and I hope that I will not be cited for contempt or anything, but the Oireachtas research service is very good, and perhaps there is a job of work for it in this area. There are other costs besides the usual suspects of labour costs and tax.

We are a republic. The first republic in modern times was conceived in America in 1776, with the slogan, "No representation without taxation".

There is an implicit link between paying tax and being a citizen. They are two sides to the same coin. If there is one concept that needs to be driven out of public life, it is that of a burden of taxation. Taxation is a part of citizenship. If one does not like how one pays one's taxes or what they are spent on, there are representatives, such as members of the committee, with whom one can have that debate. It is not a burden but an aspect of citizenship. The phrase "burden of taxation" needs to be driven out of the public discourse.