Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Cabinet approved my draft Bill to place the Low Pay Commission on a statutory footing. When I publish the Bill in the coming days, Deputy Maloney will be interested to see one of its key provisions is a legal requirement that the Low Pay Commission produce a report on, or before, 15 July each year. There is a compelling reason for providing in primary legislation that the report be returned to the Minister of the day by a particular date. That is designed to ensure it is provided well in advance of any budgetary, tax and social welfare changes the Departments of Finance and Social Protection might consider. We want to ensure that any changes recommended by the Low Pay Commission and, subsequently, adopted by Government would be positive and that they would not be nullified by any tax or social welfare changes in budgets.

The national minimum wage rate has not been fundamentally reviewed since 2007. The rate was adjusted downwards by €1 - shamefully so - by the previous Government. We adjusted that and brought it up to €8.65 on election in 2011. It is better for society and the economy and makes good economic and business planning sense to ensure there are more frequent reviews of the national minimum wage. That is what the Low Pay Commission will do. It will also examine other issues related to low pay but its primary legislative function and exclusive focus over the past few months after it was set up on an interim basis was to examine the rate of the national minimum wage and whether that should be adjusted. I look forward to receiving the report of the Low Pay Commission very shortly. I have always supported frequent reviews of the minimum wage to try to take into account the changing economic circumstances annually to ensure that those whom we need to protect in this society, people on low pay and those in vulnerable situations, get the protection I and Deputy Maloney think they are entitled to.

In the next couple of days, I will publish legislation, which was approved by Cabinet last night, on collective bargaining and the reintroduction of a registered employment agreement system. I look forward to the debate on those Bills in the next few weeks. I intend that legislation will be enacted by the end of this Dáil session, by the middle or end of July. If we have any role, it should be to ensure an economic recovery that ensures the jobs we create are decent and sustainable. We want decent work and high standards in our society and economy.

See this speech in context