Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The first thing I will do - it may have been done already - is acknowledge the really valuable contribution workers in this country make to the economy. More than 1 million people are employed in the micro and small business sector, as the Minister will know well. That sector is probably one of the most successful anywhere in the world because of the commitment of workers. Many people who have small businesses with eight, ten, 12, 15 or 20 people working for them will say the co-operation and people often going beyond the call of employment duty are what leads to the success of those businesses. They are a huge factor in the success of the regions.

I think my colleagues have already outlined that whatever pluses come in wages or whatever else to people in this country, they are gone so quickly in other costs. This does not apply only to the employees; it applies to the employers as well. The one area causing massive difficulty in my constituency, and I am sure in my colleagues' constituencies, is insurance for employers, which is rocketing completely out of control. The cost of rental premises is also still a factor. There is no doubt but that all these issues will hit the employer. As my colleagues pointed out, childcare costs have been a factor for quite a number of years. We still have not come up with a satisfactory means of ensuring that people going out to work have the proper backup in childcare terms. The cost of that childcare is an extreme financial weight on so many families. The OECD average cost of childcare represents approximately 12.6% of a family's net income, whereas in Ireland that figure stands at 27.4%, so there is a huge difference there.

The Government is the biggest employer in the country and in many respects could act as a role model in implementing the living wage in the public sector. This would set a broader standard without placing an undue legislative burden on employers struggling to keep costs down. My colleagues have referred to the Low Pay Commission. It would be a good idea to refer the proposal for a living wage to the commission. I repeat that we must tackle the issues causing people a lot of financial strain, namely, housing, childcare, insurance and public transport. We must get those issues right because they affect this whole area.

Fianna Fáil will table an amendment to the motion. We have said before that we are supportive of a living wage, but we must be very careful not to drive small employers, who carry a huge burden, out of the employment market because they are very important, particularly to rural Ireland. I know it is not the Minister's responsibility, but there definitely has not been balanced regional development in my part of the country. If she asks Deputies Troy, Ó Cuív or Penrose about this or goes onto the platforms at Longford, Dromod, Athlone or Roscommon train station, she will see the hundreds upon hundreds of people getting on the trains early in the morning to go to Dublin to work. That is a huge factor in terms of costs and the number of hours people have to be away from their families.

That is my contribution and I am glad to have been able to make it.

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