Mr. Owen Reidy:

Senator Garvey made a very important point. Small businesses are an important part of fabric of community life in cities, towns and villages. There is a real opportunity in this directive for small businesses. There is an opportunity for the Government as well. If the Government promotes sectoral bargaining at sector level - I am not talking about union X and small business Y, but at sector level - there is an opportunity to take wages out of competition, to create a level playing pitch. It requires the employers, small business representatives and others, and the State, to take an enlightened and progressive approach.

As recently as yesterday, I was on a national radio show challenging Ms Elwee's colleague, Danny McCoy. I made the point that productivity is important for everyone. It is not just a concern for the employers. It is a concern for workers too. There is an opportunity in this directive to address productivity issues for small businesses at a sectoral level, to try to take wages out of competition, to not create a "them and us", and to not be against workers or against business. If people look at this in the round, there are opportunities in this for everyone.