Mr. Macdara Doyle:

We have reached a certain degree of consensus here. It is welcome and it is one of the reasons we have these sort of engagements. We all know and acknowledge the fact that the sector was facing huge challenges even before the pandemic and they have been exacerbated. We have heard today that what we need to do ultimately, to meet those challenges, and what retail employers need to do, is to make the sector an attractive place to work. People need to want to go into retail and be drawn into it as a place where they can see a good and decent career where they can earn a decent standard of living. That, of course, goes back to the wider social wage costs that we see in terms of housing and childcare. They are not costs for the employers to meet, obviously, but there are wider issues around the social costs that need to be addressed.

Deputy Bruton asked earlier if there were two immediate things that could be done. Some of them have been addressed. There are immediate things that could be done. The committee could immediately back the restablishment of the JLC for the sector as a first step towards establishing that kind of basic threshold around pay and conditions. That is the first incremental step towards making the sector a place of greater job security, bringing people back into it, attracting workers back into it and giving them meaningful careers. As has already been suggested, the second action would be to back with urgency the establishment of that critical retail stakeholder group that would be tasked with developing the blueprint for the future of the sector and to deal with all of the issues that are out there. In terms of the wider issues, including the digital transition, the automation and so on, I remind the members that the National Economic and Social Council produced a good report in 2019 on how we manage the digital and climate transition as a society. It applies to all sectors of the economy. As far as I know, it has not been touched in terms of Government recommendations or action. Those are two actions that can be taken immediately. If the committee could add its voice to that, it would be extremely helpful for us. Perhaps my colleagues want to comment.