David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)
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To come back to the living wage concept, I wish to refer to part of the presentation which we did not get to. The presentation suggests that it is not the job of businesses to redistribute wealth but to create wealth which can then be redistributed by Government. At the very start of the presentation, reference is made to the fact that the business community and small firms in particular are a key driver of economic growth. The economy is not something that acts in isolation. The economy has to be there to serve society and citizens. Employers have a responsibility in that area too. My first question to the witnesses relates to the responsibility of employers to create and achieve a fairer economy and better income equality.

We heard earlier from Mr. Taft from the Unite trade union. In her presentation, Ms Callan spoke about taking purchasing power into account in the context of the fact that we have the fifth highest national minimum wage in Europe and that this is broadly the same picture, but that is not what EUROSTAT says. The facts say something else-----