Mr. Vincent Jennings:

This is general. It is just in addition to something Ms McCabe said. I was a low pay commissioner for six years. I was on the Low Pay Commission. It was in my last year that we directed Maynooth University to commence its deliberations on the living wage. We gave them clear instructions and terms of reference, one of which was to reference against the foreign direct investment companies. We also felt there should be consideration of the fact that we rely significantly in our workforce on those who are paid from the public purse. Although Ms McCabe spoke about foreign direct investment, an incredibly high number of people are paid from the public purse and, according to the CSO, they are paid 25.7% more than the private sector. When you throw together the two substantial cohorts of workers, those paid from the public purse and those paid by foreign direct investment, and put them in with the rest of the mix, economists have accepted that the median point automatically, de facto, rises.

Very few countries have a living wage, although many cities and states do, and no country has the mix of massive companies and a substantial public service. In many European countries, public servants are paid less than those who work in the private sector. In Ireland, we have skewed that completely. I honestly believe that if the committee is to do something, as I am sure it will - there is a period before 2029 when the living wage will come - one could be to re-evaluate leaving out the public sector and foreign direct investment. It would then find, and we as retailers would see, that this is a fair number, that it is justifiable and that it meets the requirements.

None of us would survive without our colleagues or our workforce. However, we cannot afford a figure that is plucked out of the surreal nature of Ireland as it is constituted. I just wanted to say that. It has been left aside that public sector pay is a significant part of where our median wage is.