Mr. Ciar?n Nugent:

On how the minimum wage is set, I mentioned earlier that in 2022 the share of workers in material deprivation went from one in 12 to one in eight, which is an increase of 50% or 60%, even with the employment growth. Obviously lower-wage earners, by definition, are the ones struggling.

The announcement will be made in the next couple of weeks as to what the 2024 living wage will be, based on a minimum essential standing of living. At the moment, there is a gap of about €2.50 an hour. Over a 40-hour week, there is about a €100 difference between a minimum-wage worker and the living wage, as set by the adequacy of looking at the cost of a basket of minimum essential goods. The number of workers in that bracket between minimum wage and that living wage is probably somewhere in the region of 10% or 12% of Irish workers. By addressing that and setting a better or higher floor for minimum-wage workers, a lot of those issues in terms of the State having to intervene, etc., will be less of an issue.