Matt Shanahan (Waterford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is not fair not to take into account the ability of people aged 15, 16 and 17 to do the role, including their experience, their ability to communicate and their life experience, which are all part of what employers pay for. I accept where Mr. Caffrey is coming from with the equality issue, but we are probably stretching it too thin if we start to say that people aged 15, 16 and 17, entering the workforce, should be paid the same as someone who has five or ten years' experience of working at a relatively unskilled level.