David Cullinane (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witness. I am broadly supportive of the Low Pay Commission but there are fears among some members of the trade union movement and workers that it could depoliticise the issue of low pay on the basis that we have farmed out this issue to a commission to come back with recommendations. What is the view of the witnesses on the fact there is a wealth of reports, from the OECD to TASC and many others, including State reports, clearly showing we have a difficulty with low pay. It is a problem not just in some sectors but across the economy. Why do we need a commission in the first place to tell us what we already know about these reports? How many of those on the commission are on low pay? What does the commission constitute as low pay? We can see examples of people on low pay in some sectors. Without naming names, workers are on strike because of pay. What is the personal view of the witnesses on low pay? What do the witnesses classify as low pay in terms of annual income?

The heads of the Low Pay Commission Bill seems to give the commission the power to increase and decrease the minimum wage. Is it not better to have only an increase? Why would one decrease the minimum wage? Under what circumstances is it a possibility? The British model has been in place for many years and has learned many lessons. One of the lessons it has learned is that where people are in low-paying jobs or are victims of low pay, if I can describe them as that, the solution is not just increasing pay. An argument can be made that it involves access to public services, such as proper access to housing, health care and transport.

All of these issues feed into the experience of somebody on low pay. Mr. de Buitléir mentioned the relationship between welfare and low pay. There are lots of people who end up in poverty traps. If they take up work, they lose all of the benefits they would have if they were unemployed. There is no step down, as it were, but rather a system of very harsh cut-off points. What is Mr. de Buitléir's view on that issue?

If the commission is going to deal with low pay, then it must have some notion of what qualifies as low pay. Why should people be on low pay anyway? Why do we need a Low Pay Commission to tell us what we already know, namely, that we have a problem in this area? What we need is political action and policies put in place to deliver on this issue. We must take account of the views of those outside of the commission and particularly of those who are on low pay.