Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

A very big price will be paid by the Irish people for the bad deal the Government negotiated at the weekend to bail out the banks. Among the first who are being asked to pay the price for this bad deal are people on the lowest levels of pay in the country, those at or below the national minimum wage. According to figures released yesterday, there are 52,000 workers in the country at or below the national minimum wage - just over 3% of the entire workforce. They are paid €8.65 an hour. The Government intends to cut that pay by €1 an hour. That means someone who is working a 40 hour week will have their pay cut from €346 a week by €40 a week. Someone who is on less than €18,000 a year will suffer a pay cut of more than €2,000 a year or 11.5%.

The last time the Labour Party asked about the Government's intentions for the national minimum wage was a couple of weeks ago. At that stage the responsible Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, said that the Government was waiting for a Labour Court recommendation. The Labour Court never made any recommendation to cut the national minimum wage. The cut in the national minimum wage will not save a single cent for the public finances. In fact, arguably, it will cost money. First, will the Taoiseach confirm to the House that the cut in the national minimum wage will not save a single cent for the Exchequer? Second, can he tell us what estimate, if any, the Government has made as to what cutting the national minimum wage will cost the Exchequer, since presumably people who have their national minimum wage cut will be entitled to a higher family income supplement, more secondary social welfare benefits, and there will be an impact on local authority rents? Can the Taoiseach explain to us why it is being done in the first place? What is the reason for cutting the national minimum wage? Finally, can he tell us who asked the Government to cut the national minimum wage?

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