Colm Burke (Fine Gael)
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I thank Eurofound for its report. Am I correct in saying our wage and salary levels are in the top six or seven in Europe?

We have high costs in getting a product to the market because so many of our exports go to the European market. Do we need to be careful to make sure we keep our competitive edge over other manufacturers and producers, for example, in the pharmaceutical area? Has there been any analysis of other cost factors by comparison with other countries, such as the cost of insurance, commercial rates and so on?

Eurofound states that we are slightly above average in providing jobs at the low end of the market. Is that percentage growing? If so, we would be concerned about it. We need to keep the low-wage areas in mind when planning social policy.