Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour)

I support the Bill. In regard to the minimum wage, there has been much dispute about the rationale for the rate reduction in the first place, but most people have come to their own conclusions about that. One of the best observations I have heard was when a woman who works in the cleaning industry said to me at the weekend that it was a Fianna Fáil Minister who reduced the minimum wage and it took a female Labour Party Minister to restore it. An interesting aspect of this issue is that, traditionally, the bulk of low-paid workers comprises women. We can talk about how scandalous the reduction in the rate was and what an easy target low-paid workers were for the previous Government. However, all of that is over. I congratulate the Minister on the speed with which she has honoured the commitment made in this regard. We in the Labour Party and our Fine Gael colleagues in government are proud that this commitment has been followed through.

Some Members have had stress pains about supporting this Bill because of the provisions regarding retirement age. However, the reality is that this provision relates to business that was done in this House on a September night in 2008. Since the new Dáil met on 9 March this year it has been difficult to have a discussion about any legislative proposal without noting the connection to the decision made that night. Members of Sinn Féin and the Technical Group - the highly technical group, one might call it - have stated they cannot tolerate the proposed increase in retirement age. I remind them, because there has been an attempt in the last three months to rewrite or brush out what happened that night in September 2008, that some of their number participated in bringing us to where we are. Fianna Fáil Members, who have all left the Chamber, are quick to point the finger while forgetting the actions of their party and the Green Party in government. There are members of the Technical Group who were not Members of the House at the time and I do not wish to be unfair to them. However, some of their number were Members of the last Dáil and were quick to come into the Chamber to vote for the blanket bank bailout. Sinn Féin also voted for the guarantee which, incredibly, gave depositors and bondholders the same status. The proposals we are considering today are necessary because of work done by these people in September 2008. They have some explaining to do. It is extraordinarily hypocritical of the architects of our difficulty to point to this side of the House in their objection to the proposal to increase the retirement age.

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