Mr. Finbarr Filan:

When we consult businesses, it is really important that we listen because the most effective and vibrant businesses in the country are small businesses which have no choice but to be effective and vibrant, or they are gone. ISME has always supported a minimum wage, and we all want our workers to be well paid, but it has to be at a level that is sustainable. Three years ago at the retail forum, I highlighted that if wages went up by the percentages that were targeted, there was going to be carnage, and there was. If we look at the data from Revenue for corporation tax paid by small businesses, we see that 88% of them pay less than €5,000 a year in corporation tax and 50% pay none. That means they are breaking even or making a loss. This is all being driven by increased costs.