Mr. Ger Gibbons:

The issue of inequality was raised. In the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, jobs strategy that came out last December, it spent two years looking at labour market performance in terms of employment rates, inequality and productivity, and what policies produce the best labour market outcomes. One of the conclusions was around good collective bargaining. It found that the countries that are best in employment rates, of which Dr. McDonnell mentioned some such as Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Germany and Austria, they have collective bargaining systems that work very well. One of the principle recommendations is that all countries, including Ireland, should put in place legal frameworks that support social dialogue and collective bargaining.

I am looking at the European Commission's innovation scoreboard that came out last Friday and the countries at the top of it are Sweden, Finland, Denmark and the Netherlands. The big difference they have compared to Ireland is that they have proper systems of social dialogue and collective bargaining. It is probably the best way to tackle the issue of income inequality.