Mr. Stephen Lynam:

Not at all. Mr. Gleeson will speak of the scale of the problem we all face and will go through our report. However, beforehand I will give a brief background. Retail Ireland is the national representative body for the entire sector. We represent international and national department stores, DIY outlets, electrical retailers, fashion and footwear retailers, the supermarkets, symbol groups and a range of specialist retailers. We are a division of IBEC and through that connection we also have close links with the Small Firms Association, which represents a number of small and independent retailers.

Retail crime is a serious problem and comes against a backdrop of a serious situation in the industry. Retail has had a very difficult few years, with sales down by one-third. The sectors experiencing the largest declines include furniture and lighting and the motor trade, which are down 50% and hardware and electrical goods which are down 40%. Some 50,000 retail jobs have been lost in the past few years and, unfortunately, growth is unlikely in the short term.

However, there is some good news in the sector. The retail sector still employs more than 250,000 people and is the largest employer in the country. We have a presence in every town in the land, bar none and the sector is a huge purchaser of Irish goods and products. The retail sector accounts for over 10% of GDP and almost 15% of total employment. I would like to stress also that we are an industry of small, indigenous businesses. Some 86% of retail businesses have fewer than ten employees and a similar number, 86%, are Irish owned.

It is against this background of a struggling but economically vital industry that Retail Ireland commissioned EPS Consulting and the report’s author, Peter Brennan, to collate from various sources data that shows in one place for the first time the scale of the problem of the black market and retail crime in this country. The report is solutions driven. We are not simply coming to the committee with a list of complaints. We make a series of proposals that we believe will help to combat the problem. Some of these proposals are cost neutral, but some will require State investment. However, any investment will see a return to the State many times greater than that initial spend.

I will now hand over to our chairman, Mr. Frank Gleeson, who will discuss the report.