Mr. Owen Reidy:

The Chair made a really good point. The pay disparity is right across the economy. The ESRI did a piece of work for the shared island unit. I do not want to misquote it but when it took everything into account, cost of living and all the various issues North and South, there is a pay disparity of about 30% right across the economy, public and private sector. We are seeing a lot of industrial action in Britain over the last few years and our affiliate unions in the North, particularly in the public service, are taking strike action today and tomorrow, and have been for the last year and will be over the coming months. You do not see that same level of industrial activity yet in the Republic of Ireland, partly because unions have been bargaining in the workplace in the private sector and we have had a public service pay agreement up to the end of December; who knows what will happen in the future. So there is that 30% differential. If there is to be a new Ireland, we have to insist that people must be harmonised up, not down. Those are factors that need to be considered.