Ms Patricia Callan:

It is a major part of our social obligation to accept that we should not look after the few who are privileged enough to be in employment at the expense of those who are unemployed. As a society, I personally think that is our key metric. People should have a right to work and it should be reasonable for them to do so.

As regards the profit levels of companies, they are specific for Ireland. I do not have international figures, but I have compared where we stand internationally as regards the minimum wage. Even if one takes the UK, which people love to comment on, we still have a higher minimum wage than the UK even though our exchange rate is particularly unfavourable at the moment.