Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
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With respect, we have to take the wider economy into consideration. We will probably see, over the next six months, where the fallacy lies in terms of the cost of employment. I would say that the costs relating to employment are not divorced from the other inflationary costs in the business environment. Unfortunately, costs are going north at a time when revenues are going south. I am all for adequate wages and a living wage in principle, but we are at full employment at the moment. Obviously, there are some industries in which people with very low skill levels unfortunately do not have much bargaining power and are therefore subject to only being offered the minimum wage. We have a lot of talented people in the workforce who are doing far better than that. Our biggest problem is inflation eating into everybody's ability to pay. I am a supporter of adequate wages for people. Obviously, I would like to see everybody earning enough money to pay their bills, live, eat and all the rest of it.

All I am concerned about are the two issues that Dr. Bambrick mentioned. One is the single step transition up to a living wage. I do not think it is possible to deliver in the economy. It will cause a lot of damage to the SME sector. The second issue that was discussed is collective bargaining across all sectors. Again, that is going to be very difficult for the SME community. That is where my interest lies primarily, as a member of this committee. I would like to see us taking stock and taking time to reflect on all these changes. As Deputy Bruton outlined earlier, we have made a number of significant advancements in terms of pay and social supports for employees over the last year, with more to come. All of this has been loaded onto the SME sector, which employs 1 million people in this country. I am dealing with many business owners at the moment who are in significant financial distress and are reporting significant losses. Adding more costs to their businesses is not going to make them any more sustainable.