Ms Tara Buckley:

Obviously we understand that a number of things will come in and they have been promised. Let me outline the reality for the business owners whom I represent. In the sector we are in, we are not exporters but we are best in practice in Europe and the world. People come from all over the world to see Ireland's fresh food retailers. The people whom I represent are really good at what they do. We use a high-employment model. It has suited local communities and this economy that we create great local jobs in tiny towns and villages, and in urban and rural areas everywhere. When one has a range of staff in one's store, our staff stay with our members. There is not a lot of staff turnover in our members' shops because these are good local jobs and you can afford to raise a family with these jobs. We are not minimum-wage employers. The people who work in our stores probably range across a range of different hourly rates, which depends on their levels of responsibility, training and all of these aspects. The problem is that when we have an increase at the lowest level, then everyone along the scale effectively and understandably expects to get an increase.

The overall impact on the wage bill is effectively right across the scale. That is the challenge for the business owner. That is why we think some of these measures will disproportionately impact on us, as food retailers. If a person goes out sick in a shop, he or she has to be replaced. Everybody else cannot just take over. If he or she is behind the deli counter, there has to be someone to replace them to do his or her job. It is not like we can just absorb these measures. We have to put somebody else in place. We believe that the Government must look at the businesses that have to do that, and look at the scheme to see if there is some way that that type of employer can be assisted to ensure that the replacement worker can be paid. All of the money is coming from the one pot and the pot is not getting bigger, it is only getting smaller. That is the big challenge for us. We understand that these schemes need to be brought in.

Maynooth University did research on the phased introduction of the living wage. It found that the impact on the wage bill will be a 1.5% increase in the retail and wholesale sector. That is absolutely untrue. From a back-of-the-envelope calculation made at the meeting, a member in the room said that for them, the phased introduction of the living wage would probably result in a 20% to 25% increase in their annual wage bill. It seems fine if there is a 1.5% increase in the wage bill. Perhaps that will be the case with the big multiples. What will happen to the small individual stores is that there will be a 20% increase in the wage bill. To be honest, at the moment, that is not possible. What does that owner do? The owner has to work out how he or she can reduce and make the wage bill smaller. That is about reducing hours and whatever. Owners do not want to do that. They value the staff and do not want to do have to do that. If they have to introduce all of these different schemes, they believe they will have to do that. Our sector is not an exporting sector. We rarely get handouts from the Government. I think that some of our members qualified for some of the schemes introduced during Covid. It is rare for us to come in and ask for support. As we have said, it is a unique situation for our members. They are viable businesses that provide good jobs in local communities. If they are given a small bit of support to help them through the next 12 months, they will continue, grow and be viable. What we are saying is that we are extremely challenged at the moment.