Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I wish to highlight that SIPTU is holding a protest at lunchtime today in regard to workers from the community sector. It is a sector that is in crisis in terms of funding and job losses. I would ask people from across the Chamber to come out and support our colleagues in SIPTU today.

I wish to raise the issue of income equality and perhaps ask for the Minister for Finance to come to the House to debate this issue. The ICTU has produced a wonderful document called "Because We Are Worth It". It details the pay of top CEOs in our public companies. Some of the figures are quite startling. With the Cathaoirleach's permission, I will read out some of the figures. The pay of the CEO of Grafton has gone up by a staggering 373 % in the past six years. The CEO of C&C has had an increase of 238 % over the same period, while Glanbia's CEO received an increase of 222 %. The CEO of Ryanair received an increase of 203 %. These are salaries in the region of €1.8 million to €2.4 million to €3.7 million. This is absolutely shocking. It is telling when Dan O'Brien, an economist very much on the right, has called for this report to be read and acted on-----