John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

One meets many people on the minimum wage or earning below a living wage or people employed in the black market who are not even paid the minimum wage. That is a breach of their human rights. That is acknowledged in the European Court of Human Rights. It is acknowledged across Europe that people have a right to earn a reasonable wage. This is an interesting proposal and there is no reason it cannot be included in the legislation. Its inclusion would commit us to what is provided in the European Court of Human Rights and in the European Convention on Human Rights, to which all of us in this Parliament would subscribe. I do not know anybody here who would not subscribe to it. There is no reason the protection afforded by a reasonable wage against the violation of a worker's right could not be copper-fastened into the legislation. If we are serious about ensuring people have a living wage and addressing the issue of low pay, we definitely would not have a problem with making this a human rights issue.

I raised an issue in the House, highlighted to me by a girl I spoke to recently who is employed on a zero-hour contract and who, having worked, came home with €124. It is a breach of her human rights to work and not earn a living wage and that should not be allowed. This proposal is a good one. It would not alter the objective of the Bill if we were to guarantee that the right to a decent and living wage is a human right.

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