Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

There is provision in the review of the JLC sector and the fact that we have put the JLC system on a stronger legislative and constitutional footing for the establishment, for example, of a JLC in the retail sector. Under the legislation it is a matter for employers, employees and trade unions to engage.

I am very interested in the concept of a living wage and have engaged with the Living Wage Foundation in the UK on an informal basis on a number of occasions, as well as with other think tanks which have done some very important work on the concept of a living wage. The Deputy will be familiar with the fact that the concept is a voluntary one. It is a grassroots initiative, developed by civil society organisations in the UK in the late 1990s and early 2000s. To the best of my recollection, about 1,200 employers in the UK have signed up to this voluntary initiative.

There is a role for civil society to work with all interested parties to make sure that they can promote the concept of a living wage. As I said, I will host a forum in Dublin later this year to discuss the concept from an Irish perspective and see what we can learn from the UK. At that forum we will engage with progressive employers and civil society actors to discuss the concept further.

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