Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the introduction of this Bill. It is a significant development and the commission has the potential to be a significant improvement on the current system. The commission has major potential in this area and it should be afforded more. There is pressure on it to deliver its first recommendation, but I would like to see it examine areas such as the living wage because the debate on the minimum wage has moved on, as the Minister of State knows. He referred to dignity at work. The most important thing is that work pays, and people are rewarded for their work and treated fairly. A discussion on the living wage opens up many areas that the Low Pay Commission can take on board.

I welcome the fact that decisions on the minimum wage are, to a certain extent, being taken out of the political system and will be evidence based. As part of our preparation for this Bill, we met the UK Low Pay Commission and saw its work in action. I welcome, in particular, that the commissioners travel around the UK to meet businesses, employers and employees in the regions and learn directly how their decisions will impact on employees and employers. I hope that our commissioners will take that message on board and travel across the country.

While I accept the bona fides of the Minister of State, I note the submission from the Department of Finance on the national minimum wage warned of serious risks surrounding the increase in the national minimum wage. Its view was that any increase would reduce employment and put at risk gains made since 2008. It also wanted a system to allow the minimum wage to be reduced in the future. That was done once before and it was a mistake. It says more about the ethos of the troika, which insisted on that happening, that as a body it wanted to engage in social engineering rather than financial assistance. That should not be allowed to happen again under the new system. I would be interested in hearing the Minister of State's views on the Department of Finance submission, in particular as he has responsibility for employment and ensuring this does not happen.

Fianna Fáil made a number of recommendations in its submission to the Low Pay Commission. We sought to meet the commission but it told us it was not in a position to do so. It is ironic that we can meet the UK commission but not our own. I hope it is more open to meeting political parties and the various interest groups in its operation. I know it is under pressure to reach an early decision, but that is not a good way to do business.

Our submission calls for a 6.4% increase in the minimum wage, which would bring it to €9.20 an hour and represent an increase in gross pay of €1,115 per annum based on a 39 hour week. We feel the State, as a major employer, should lead the way in terms of a living wage. The remit of the commission should be expanded to begin work on defining what a living wage is and calculating the rates that need to be set to achieve this aim, and we will table amendments to this effect. On the basis of that work, the State, as a major employer, should seek to ensure that the people it employs, as well as those it employs indirectly, are paid the minimum wage.

There is a need to examine minimum wages across the country. Some cognisance should be taken of the fact that it is far more expensive to live in and pay for day-to-day costs, such as transport, rent and housing, in some regions.

Given that we are putting the resources in place, the time has come to name and shame rogue employers who fail to adhere to the law and pay the minimum wage, disrespect their workers and treat them unfairly, as well as seek competitive advantage by getting around the minimum wage laws. It is time Revenue and other organisations kept a quarterly register of those employers prosecuted under the national minimum wage legislation. People will then know those companies playing with their workers’ lives and seeking competitive advantage.

The University of Limerick working group on zero-hour and low-hour contracts, established by the Minister of State, should be merged with the Low Pay Commission. The calibre of those in the working group is very good but the Low Pay Commission has day-to-day experience with thousands of employers and employees. It has the capacity, if given proper support, to carry on this agenda and to ensure the work under way at the University of Limerick does not end up in a cul-de-sac. An extension of the Low Pay Commission’s remit to examine zero-hour and low-hour contracts would be beneficial for everyone.

It should be recognised the Government doubled the cost of employers’ PRSI overnight. Doing so resulted in people losing their jobs because of the cost to employers. Employers’ PRSI contributions need to be reduced with a view to encouraging extra employment and ensuring it pays employers to take on people, particularly from the live register. Despite the various statistics the Minister of State read out, we still have a serious problem with long-term unemployment. The data show a cohort people stuck on the live register for two to three years. We need to put serious investment and effort into targeting those people and giving them training opportunities to prepare them for the workforce.

The Bill replaces the National Minimum Wage Act 2000. Over that time, there were many increases in the minimum wage along with one decrease. I have already commented on the role of the troika in that decrease and have previously acknowledged it was a mistake. Now, there will be an annual research-based approach on the impact of the national minimum wage on employment and its relevance to people’s incomes and day-to-day living standards. This will ensure we have a backup in future.

I am concerned about the changes the Minister of State has announced to the Workplace Relations Act 2015. Original work began on this legislation in 2010 and it was in gestation for four years. Will the Minister of State provide us with a detailed briefing note on his proposed changes before he introduces them? It is not appropriate to introduce legislation in the way proposed. While I understand the rationale behind it, will he provide a detailed briefing note on the impact of these proposals to the legislation?

The Minister of State made the usual comments about everything being relatively rosy in his garden and about economic recovery. I acknowledge the growth in employment but the Minister of State threw in at the end that it is not regionally based. In many of our regions, the numbers in the labour force are falling. For example, the quarterly national household survey shows a drop in the Border, midland and western region. The Government does not have a regional jobs policy. It has been pointed out for many years that the Government is allowing employment go to the large cities which, in turn, piles on accommodation and transport costs. These are many of the issues that lead to the problems that we have been trying to deal with over the past six years. Once again, we are at risk of repeating this.

The Government’s response is a regional jobs action plan, which it intends to publish over the summer recess. First, we will not have a chance to properly review it in the House. Second, the fact it is an any other business, AOB, item on the Government’s programme as it prepares to go into an election is an indication of how low down it is on its agenda. There needs to be serious engagement on the regional economies, not just some public relations blitz over the summer. He needs to ensure he works with IDA Ireland and that it takes the issue seriously. It is unacceptable that in 2014 only 37% of IDA site visits occurred outside of Dublin and Cork core. Those who want to set up small companies and create employment in their communities are still struggling to get finance and support from local enterprise offices and local Leader companies. A start-up company was in contact with and it has had to lay off staff because of difficulties in dealing with its local Leader company. This is repeated across the country.

This is happening in the absence of any regional jobs policy. The main thing in the Government's jobs action plan is that it is cross-departmental, involves all the pillars of government and everybody focuses on it. However, jobs are being lost and choked because of the inability of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to properly manage the Leader and rural enterprise programmes.

I predict these regional job action plans will be much smoke and mirrors with big public relations announcements but little substance. Will the Minister of State take it seriously? He cannot allow the country to develop a dependency on employment in the capital city, leaving the regions behind. He cannot allow the cost base for business to grow out of control because the Government is focusing growth in one part of the country. If he pursues this policy, talk of minimum and living wages will be irrelevant to many people across the country when they do not have the opportunity for employment.

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