Linda Nelson Murray (Fine Gael)

I thank Ms Finn. I am sorry we have time constraints. I would love to go back to Ms Finn but I will go back to ISME to talk about defamation. I know it is very important to ISME as well. We are going through amendments in the Seanad on the Bill today.

When I read ISME’s opening statement yesterday, I had a quick look at my own business. I know my costs are going up but my wages have gone up by €40,000 so far, my energy has gone up and my rent has gone up by €100,000. This is all in a year. I pay €20,000 in rates and €20,000 in insurance. That is without auto-enrolment and wages going up any further, so I hear what ISME is saying.

My question is for Mr. Filan and Mr. McDonnell. I am thinking about what happens if we do not tackle energy and the minimum wage increases. As I said last week, none of us are against increasing wages to our staff who are so valuable to us. It is about having supports for businesses to be able to do so. What if VAT remains at 23%? If the 13.5% rate goes down that helps the hospitality sector but not the rest. If all this happens and our rents continue to increase and we do not manage to tackle insurance what will happen? What does ISME see happening in the next year?