Mr. Adrian Cummins:

Not for food safety inspections by EHOs but there are fees for fats, oils and grease traps payable to the inspecting company that goes in. Our argument is this could all be done by the State in one inspection. As the president of the association outlined, we have to deal with 28 different licensing or regulatory bodies. In 2012, we were promised that this would be studied to try to amalgamate the inspections into one inspection that might cover four different regulatory regimes, use of technology to reduce paperwork and form filling and some thinking outside the box that would ultimately reduce costs for a business. However, there is a reason for the 28 licensing or regulatory bodies but why can they not be merged to ensure only one inspection?

With regard to Deputy Neville's question about employment models, productivity and profit share, my colleagues will speak about productivity and profit share. The average number of staff in a small business in our sector is 15 full-time equivalents. It is usually busy between Thursday night and Sunday afternoon, which is a short window to maximise profit at the end of the day. Businesses tend towards casual labour at the weekend, usually students or those looking for part-time work. Many of our businesses do not open on Monday or Tuesday because it is not worth their while opening. Many also close on Sunday evenings. The committee is examining the cost of doing business and we need to examine how we can reduce costs and give people more work. According to our balance sheet, 36% of expenditure is on payroll and that is the average throughout the industry. If payroll costs exceed 36%, one is entering the drop zone of a non-profitable business. Our businesses are people businesses and customers will vote their feet. They expect good service and they expect to meet good staff. We are not into lean technology similar to a manufacturing plant. We are different from other sectors. It is about utilising people in our business but we have to make a profit at the end of the day.