Mr. Finbarr Filan:

It will be devastating. I am not an alarmist but that is what will happen. It is very important that people get to put a face on what a small business is like. If the Senator bears with me I will run through mine. I employ 33 people in a convenience-store business across a variety of shifts and formats from full-time staff to students who might work one shift of ten hours a week, perhaps. We open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., seven days a week. My target on my business is about 110 labour hours per week and I typically have 20 to 30 hours of holidays on top of that. To look at the movement in costs, I will give some of the main items in my business since January 2023. My wage bill has increased by over €100,000 per annum. My energy bill has increased by €32,000. My insurance costs have increased by €4,000. My packaging costs have increased by €12,000. That is €150,000 without even talking about the costs from my main suppliers. For all of us, it is relative. That is my business but if you go to a hairdresser, locksmith or pub it will all be relative in their business too. We have faced an onslaught of costs over the last two to three years but the biggest driver is the minimum wage costs, which have gone up by 35% in four years. It is really hard for any business to be able to sustain those costs on an ongoing basis. I am glad to see a sort of tapering down. Two years ago it went up by €1.20. Do the sums on that - that is €40,000 on the bottom of my business. Businesses cannot keep facing these increases.