Richard Bruton (Dublin Bay North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Does the commission have any data on who is on the minimum wage and the make-up of that group? In particular, how does migration bear on the composition of that group? One of the very good reasons for bringing in the living wage is to make sure we do not find people who are very vulnerable concentrated on the minimum wage, which creates a problem in itself. I am interested in having an idea of that.

One of the areas that has posed difficulty over time has been roles such as au pair, or people who work overnight in caring situations, including carers who stay overnight. There has always been an issue as to whether those arrangements are in breach of labour law. This overnight rate was one of the ways of trying to bridge the gap between what had been a practice and put it in line with proper employment conditions. Has that been resolved at this stage? Do we have clarity on what is and is not permissible in those arrangements? These can become very exploitative arrangements but they can also suit people if they are properly overseen.

Deputy O'Reilly asked whether a support to rates for smaller employers was a good way, or was sufficiently targeted, to reach people who are likely to have a high concentration of minimum wage or living wage earners. Did the commission identify any alternative mechanism? I recall that when the energy subsidy was introduced last year, which looked like a very well-designed scheme, it in fact had a tiny take-up because of the administrative burden of trying to get all the data together. Many people did not take it up and there was a much lower take-up. Is there a preferred route the commission's study came up with as to how one might balance moving to the living wage and not exposing certain sectors or employers?