Paul Gogarty (Dublin Mid West, Green Party)

Two thirds of the reason we are cutting back in this budget is because we are spending more than we are taking in. We have to reign ourselves in. Everything has a knock-on effect. We cannot have very high levels of social welfare that are a disincentive to work while at the same time cut amounts for people who are on the borderline. Everything must be proportionate and while I personally would argue against reducing the minimum wage, I see the logic of it. We are not Germany. As I said earlier, we are more like Spain. If one goes to Spain and buys bottled water, it is a fraction of the price here. If one works there in a coffee shop, one gets paid wages that are a fraction of what one gets paid here.

Our overheads are far too high and we must bring our costs down collectively. That does not mean letting employers unscrupulously exploit employees. The idea here is to allow employers take on more casual and part-time employees to get a little stimulus going to try to create jobs. Even at the new minimum wage, it is better than being on social welfare, which has gone down also, particularly for those under 25. There is still an incentive to get into some form of work. It is better than not working at all. That is the point of this. The national minimum wage will only come in to the income tax net in 2014 and one can see it still provides a clear incentive to employment.

In Greece, another bailout country, the minimum wage is €4.28. In Spain, it is €3.84. In Portugal, it is €2.86. As I stated previously, in Germany - from whom we should learn much financially, at least - they do not have one, and yet Germans are able to raise their families, care about children and are able to contribute to overseas development aid.

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