Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Obviously, it would be a good idea for us to put the Bill on hold in order that the Low Pay Commission could review the advice it has given on the Bill. Clearly, it is not ill-advised, but there is a gap in the advice it gave. There is a huge void in the information and the robust advice it has given to the Government to support the Bill. Clearly, the Minister, as she did in the case of Sinn Féin's banded hours Bill, is trying to head off Senator Gavan's Bill and produce her own when the unions which are well placed to judge state Senator Gavan's Bill would do a hell of a lot more to address the problem in the sector. Does the Low Pay Commission not see the huge irony in the advice it gave to the State on the Bill being excepted, while the advice it gave on increasing the national minimum wage by 30 cent an hour was rejected in the latest budget? The Government's attitude was to forget about the commission's advice on increasing the national minimum wage by 30 cent in the budget, but it is prepared to accept the advice on the Bill.