Never had issue with the stock IRC's and would not have minded having them fitted again, but I went with the mass concensus of fitting CG's. See how long the CG lasts in comparison, although my journey now involves lots of 40-50mph riding on high camber roads compared to 30mpg on flatter roads.
They garage had issues changing the tyre as they had not done a PCX tyre change before so pondered over what needed to come off in what order - I chipped in a few times

They thought the rear pads were about %50 worn but I need to check against the official wear check thing. What surprised me was how rusty the upper half of the centre stand was (more bulging metal than red rust mind) - looks to have really suffered from 3 years of standing on wet salty pathways. May need to try and remove and re-grease it at some point or perhaps replace it post winter.
So, 2 of 3 problems hopefully sorted - new front pads and new rear tyre - just the clutch bearing noise to deal with along with replacing stock clutch pads to the '110' style for smoother take-off. Oh, and belt/filter/etc general to-do jobs.