Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

It is almost embarrassing to be standing here discussing this measure. It is probably fair to say that if James Connolly was not already worn out from turning in his grave, he would be going into a massive tailspin. Let us face it: this is a cosmetic exercise, a pretence at dealing with the reality of poverty experienced by workers in this country that sees half of the population on earnings of less than €27,000. Whether a person on such a wage is fortunate - or unfortunate - enough to have a mortgage or is renting accommodation, the average price of a unit will be €1,200, and almost half of his or her earnings will go on accommodation costs. The backdrop to this discussion is that in 2013, Ireland had the second highest percentage of low-paid jobs across its labour force in the OECD. Michael Taft has stated that workers in hospitality and retail, two of the lowest-paid sectors in the economy, would need a 20% increase to reach the average paid in central European countries. We are not even talking about doing anything as dramatic or radical as that. This is merely tinkering at the edges. It is a pretence at doing something after a Dáil term when nothing has really happened other than the expansion of a gulf between those at the bottom, those in the middle and those at the top of Irish society.

We are told that, under the provisions of this Bill, as many low-paid workers as is reasonably practicable will be assisted by the Low Pay Commission. What does "reasonably practicable" mean? According to the Bill, it means that the wages of low-paid workers will be incrementally increased as long as those increases do not have adverse consequences for national competitiveness and as long as increasing the wages of workers who earn approximately €18,000 before tax - if they are lucky enough to be in a full-time job, which, obviously, most of them are not - does not have an impact on productivity. We must look at those low level of wages in terms not only of the amount but of the society that we live in, the utter decimation of the social wage and the non-existent public services in Ireland, which means one must pay out of one's wages for health care, education and parking, even if one must visit a relative in a hospital or shop on a main street. Instead, we are talking about considering wages in the context of national competitiveness. I support the call of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions to consider these issues in the context of a living wage, much more so than what is being proposed here.

The race to the bottom in Irish society is not accidental. It is a deliberate product of neoliberalism. What is missing from this Bill is almost as telling as what is in it. Other points have been made that the cost of living will be increased, but at the same time it is not enough.

We need to look at issues such as quality of life, precarious employment, employment conditions, public services and unpaid care work, not only for low-paid workers but for everybody. We need an examination of what is going on in the workplace across this country. There is not one mention anywhere of the idea of a living wage. We live in a country where 60% of pilots in one of our biggest airlines are on zero-hour contracts, where Dunnes Stores workers have been fired in retaliation for going out on strike and where the entire staff of Clerys lost their jobs overnight two weeks ago. We are talking about low pay, but we are not really delivering on any of these issues because the discussion is taking place within the confines of neoliberalism and we are dressing it up as measures to address inequality. However, in reality, when we confirm that premise, we cannot address it.

I will finish with correspondence I received from a worker in Ryanair. I suppose he is one of the fortunate ones who has a job. Indeed, he is not so fortunate. He states that on a daily basis he and his co-workers are disgustingly exploited and that every month his duty plan shows that his ground hours exceed flight hours, the only kind of hours for which he gets paid, by at least 30 hours. He states that if they get sick they do not get a penny, that the company does not provide them with any kind of pension or health insurance whatsoever, and that if they get fired they will not get a cent either - in fact, they will be lucky if they do not have to pay for the privilege. Those are the issues that we need to be seriously addressing, rather than implementing cosmetic stunts in the run-up to an election.

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