Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes when we discuss these issues we nearly get lost in the human side, that is, that there are families who cannot afford to feed their children, heat their houses, clothe their children and get them ready for school. These are people who are working full-time. On a humanitarian level alone, there is a necessity to focus on the issue of low pay. We have an exceptionally uneven wage scale in Ireland in terms of the highs and lows and I believe the minimum wage is an extremely important part of that. I agree with some of the speakers that it is not the only issue. There are the major issues of public services, tax, conditions of employment and purchasing power. We have a low pay commission, not a minimum wage commission, and if the low pay commission was to do what it says and pass the advertising standards, it would look at all those issues that feed into low pay and make recommendations to the State on what should be done to alleviate this humanitarian disaster in society. It is not only employees who are on low pay. In certain scenarios there are employers who are on low pay. One of their concerns is the relationship between the minimum wage and unemployment.

In an effort to create an evidence-based discussion, is there any research of which the representatives are aware that either negates or suggests there is a clear relationship between the minimum wage and people losing their jobs? We know many people are on the minimum wage, as highlighted by Mr. Gerry Light. There are also many people on the minimum wage working for very profitable businesses. A committee like this or an executive should be able to identify how many people on the minimum wage work for companies that cannot afford anything more than the minimum wage and how many work for extremely profitable businesses that could easily afford to compensate above the minimum wage.

I had a look at the Small Firms Association document. There appears to be a conflict about evidence from Mr. Michael Taft on the purchasing power element of low pay. Mr. Michael Taft stated that when purchasing power is taken into consideration, low pay is even lower in the State. Obviously the Small Firms Association has stated that is not the case. Can Mr. Taft identify where the evidence for his statement has come from and we will speak to the Small Firms Association on the issue?

My final point is on purchasing power. The last thing we want is wage inflation which leads to a reduction in purchasing power, where workers are no better off but wages have nominally increased within society.

Representatives of the Nevin Economic Research Institute, NERI, appeared before the committee last week and made a good point in setting out that if the State provided proper public services, it would mean that the living wage could be reduced. The costs of all our public services put pressure on families' wage resources. In what ways do the representatives of the unions believe that purchasing power could be increased within the economy, other than by increasing the minimum wage, which I would support?