Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)

The first act of Government will be to restore the national minimum wage. The most vulnerable workers on the lowest rate of pay will be protected by the action we propose. That is a significant reversal of the position. Wage setting mechanisms must be fit for purpose and must be sensitive to the conditions in these sectors. The main sectors affected are retail, catering, hotels and construction. In the past three years, we have seen a 60% loss of employment in construction, 15% in retail and wholesale and more than twice that in the lower paid occupations. The figures are similar for hotel and catering, with over 20% of jobs lost. We must be sensitive to the relationship between wage setting mechanisms that, as the terms of reference mention, have anomalies, obsolete provisions and inflexibility. Against a background of such job attrition we must ensure the wage setting mechanisms are fit for purpose. There will be changes in the way these systems work. There is a call for reform coming from the report and reform proposals will be brought forward, but they will be designed to create more and better employment opportunities to give people more opportunity to work in these sectors against a background of huge attrition. I am conscious that there is considerable pressure on employers in these sectors as well. The pay rates here are much higher than north of the Border. There are real pressures in these sectors and real job losses occurring, and the system of wage setting must be sensitive to those pressures also.

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