Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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Like others, I have a concern that we are in a very one-sided discussion this morning. I know employer groups were asked to come in but it is always good to have the balance and, hopefully, we will have that again in the future. I have stated a number of times in this committee that I would support a living wage but it must be done on a phased basis that is cognisant of the pressures in the marketplace. Oftentimes when we have these discussions, we tend to use large employers with the ability to pay as the standard across the working environment when that is certainly not the case.

Dr. Bambrick identified two sectors with regard to SMEs with 54% of low-paid workers working in hospitality and retail. As a general rule, if one walked in and found 20 or 30 people in an organisation, how many of those does she believe would be represented by the minimum wage?