Most SMEs 'cannot afford to staff increase wages'

Small and medium business group ISME say most of their members cannot afford pay rises for workers.

It follows an announcement from the UNITE trade union which said that it is going to lodge private sector pay claims of 5% next year.

Irish salaries are expected to rise by over 2% in 2016 according to the new Mercer's Salary report.

However, ISME's Mark Fielding said that the focus should be on income tax, and not pay.

"The way to reward workers is through the tax system," he said.

"Don't be always throwing over to the employer to actually increase wages.

"I mean, we have it all the time from these promises coming into the pre-election - I mean, they've gone wild!"