Mr. Mark Fielding:

I do not represent any of the large businesses about which the Senator talks and will not talk about them. I represent small and medium businesses which are trying to get out of the recession they have been in for the past seven years and which to a man and woman are paying rates of pay they can afford. In my presentation I said taking the ratio of the national minimum wage to price levels, the actual minimum wage rate would be €7.42, not its current rate of €8.65.

In answer to the question of from where we would get the money, every person coming off the dole results in a saving of €20,000 and will be producing tax revenue, employer’s PRSI and their own universal social charge, USC etc. The Senator can see the figures. We cannot keep on saying the employer has to take on the responsibility. I am stuck on that point and that is the way it is. It is not our job to take on the responsibility of the State to redistribute wealth. That is not what we are there for; we are there to employ people, make money in order that we can employ more people and offer a decent living to everybody and watch our competitiveness in order that when we sell our goods on the open market, we can actually compete.