Mr. Jimmy Kelly:

I thank members for the invitation to make a submission on low pay and the living wage. My colleagues and I will seek to cover all aspects of this issue. If possible, I will share the allotted time with Mr. Michael Taft.

Ireland is a low pay and high cost economy, which means Irish workers have less purchasing power than their peer groups across Europe. This is a long-term phenomenon rather than an outcome of the recession. When addressing issues of low pay it is necessary to consider workers' pay packets and what is known as the social wage, namely, the compensation workers receive through access to public services and social protection supports. On each of these measures - direct pay and the social wage - Irish workers lose out. This is especially evident when wages in traditional low paid sectors, such as hospitality and retail, are compared across Europe. In these sectors, Irish workers are at a particular disadvantage when compared to their European counterparts.

It is argued in some quarters that we need to keep wages low to maintain competitiveness. This argument is a distortion and misrepresentation of competitiveness. The most competitive economies in Europe have high levels of investment, infrastructural quality, health and education, use of technology and innovation, to name but a few elements. They also have high wage levels, which are critical to an economy's competitiveness. It is not possible to build a prosperous economy on low wages.

Ireland's low wage economy is a direct contributor to what is described as in-work poverty. Approximately 350,000 members of the workforce or one in five employees are categorised by the Central Statistics Office as living in deprivation conditions. Not only is this economically irrational, but it is socially obscene.

An increase of €1 in the national minimum wage, a strong joint labour committee system, an end to precarious employment as well as a right for part-time workers to take up more hours are necessary measures to boost economic growth and vindicate the right to a decent wage. They should be seen as the first step towards the goal of implementing a living wage.

I ask Unite's research officer, Mr. Michael Taft, to address some of the specific aspects of the Irish low wage economy.