Tony McCormack (Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I thank Ms Siobhán Finn and Mr. Neil McDonnell for their opening statements. I will concentrate on ISME, but in my next round I will have some questions for the other witnesses.

The ISME opening statement does not read well. We are the dearest in some categories. We are second or third in the table for others. Ireland is not at the bottom of any tables in any way, shape, or form for anybody. It seems the cost of doing business in Ireland is very expensive. The only natural resource we have as a country or a people is agriculture. We used to have fishing as a big industry, but it is not so big anymore. We look at wind energy, but it is not there yet. After that, we have FDI. FDI firms come into the country and provide a huge amount of work here, which has a multiplier effect according to the IDA. For every job created in the FDI sector, there are probably five or six jobs created in indigenous businesses and small and medium size enterprises, which are the backbone of the country. Without those FDIs we are in trouble. We are making the playing field more uncompetitive. We met with IBEC representatives last week, and they told us the same story as the witnesses are telling us today - that we need to reign in our costs. IBEC representatives spoke about costs such as insurance, but their number one cost is the minimum wage. When we raise the minimum wage it has a knock-on effect because everyone above it wants a similar percentage raise in their wages. What happens is somebody on €10 per hour four years ago is probably getting less value for the €14 per hour he or she gets now. We are pushing this living wage way above what we can attain in the future because it seems to be a moveable feast. We, as a Government, need to take control. We need to link the minimum wage to inflation. It is the only way we are going to get a hold on this, because all the other costs are related.

The ISME opening statement highlighted that Ireland has the highest pre-tax energy prices in the EU. From ISMEs perspective, what specific interventions could the State realistically take? I am thinking about the subsidies being given to businesses in Germany to reduce the cost of energy.