Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 28 September 2022

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Cost of Living, Minimum Wage Increases and Report of Low Pay Commission: Discussion

Mr. Ultan Courtney:

That is a very reasonable question. The proxy that we look at is what happens to employment in the economy in general and that is why the Maynooth report was very significant. It is not, seemingly, binding evidence that it is impacting on employment. That is the thing we most worry about. We all accept that for small employers in particular, there are many problems in how they get on with their business. At the end of the day, we do not have the data on that. People do not come to us pleading inability to pay. They go to the union or to the Labour Court. All we can do is look and see what is actually happening and what the impact is. If the impact is negative, we get worried and if it is not negative, we move forward. That is what we are trying to do. We are being cautious in relation to that.

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