Ireland’s retail sector has been hit hard by Covid and cannot afford extra costs which means that it is not the right time to move employees to a living wage “in too large a step”,  the managing director of Retail Excellence Duncan Graham has told a Dáil Committee.

“There are significant costs being put on retailers at the moment and, in our view, now is not the time to start increasing and moving towards a living wage in too large a step,” Mr Graham said.

“While we are not saying that we shouldn’t move forward on that and there is absolutely a need for meaningful jobs in retail, to develop the managerial jobs in retail… we can’t afford to start lumping additional costs in just at this moment in time,” he said.

The living wage in Ireland is estimated by some to be €12.30 per hour, while the national minimum wage is currently considerably lower at €10.20 per hour. A living wage is defined as the minimum income necessary for a single adult worker in full-time employment, with no dependents, to meet his or her basic needs and to afford a minimum acceptable standard of living.

Retailers have faced difficult times in recent months thanks to Brexit, online shopping and the longest Covid lockdown in Europe. 

Mr Graham said less physical retail space will be required in future as shops boost their online presence.

“We will end up with a retail industry that has both physical shops and has online support as well… the reality is we will also require less retail space in our towns and cities going forward,” Mr Graham said.

One of the ways to rejuvenate urban areas would be to change planning rules to get more people living over shops, according to Mr Graham.

Some of the adjustments caused by Brexit have redrawn supply chains for goods.

“A lot of work has gone into supply chain to ensure that rather than using the land bridge businesses are now starting to import and use suppliers direct from northern Europe and beyond,” he said.