Mr. Thomas Burke:

Senator Reilly asked about the figure of €220 million. It relates to the rates which were not collected in 2014 when around 73% of the total commercial rates bill due for that year were successfully collected. As Mr. O'Brien mentioned earlier, that collection rate varied from 56% in one local authority area to 92% in another, so there is clearly a vast differential in collection rates between areas.

I agree entirely with Senator Davitt and the Chairman about the significant impact commercial rates are having on retailers in particular, whether large or small. We have spent a great deal of time discussing it today. It occupies the mind and it has an impact on how many people such businesses can employ. Only approximately 6,500 new jobs have been created in our sector in the past four years and that is linked to a number of issues, of which the cost and burden of commercial rates is certainly one. Something quite radical needs to be done to address that concern or we will end up in a bad place.

I will touch upon some of our members' concerns about cost base. The recent national minimum wage increase has been a huge problem for our members, not necessarily the rate itself but the relative impacts it will have above that level. It also puts us significantly out of line with the UK and Northern Ireland, of which we are now around 12% ahead in respect of wage levels. That is a concern at a time when VAT rates are also out of line with the UK, which has a 20% VAT rate in comparison with our 23% VAT rate.

The other online retail issues I mentioned earlier also are of huge concern to our members.

Insurance is a big concern for our sector, especially in respect of public liability, where cases of claims tourism have arisen. Groups of people have been going around various stores and having accidents. They have been turning up in different towns week after week. The culture that has been created in recent years, which seems to incentivise claims against businesses, is a real concern. If that is not tackled soon it will lead to very serious problems.

There are ramifications from Brexit. In common with our colleagues in the food sector, Brexit poses serious and significant implications for the Irish retail sector including to the cost base. Areas such as product sourcing, logistics and supply chains will all have to be addressed in the next few years, depending on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations. That has the potential to add cost to our supply chain. We need to insulate Irish retailers and, more importantly, the Irish consumer from any further increases in that area.

Finally, there has been a significant spike in the rate of retail crime recently. We have been in discussions with An Garda Síochána which has confirmed our fears that we have seen a very significant increase in the rate of retail crime, that is, crime in or around retail premises, in the last 18 months.