Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Everybody agrees this is a very important body but where we disagree is its ambition and the powers it will have. With regard to amendment No. 10, the Minister of State mentioned that apprentices are subject to registered employment agreements, but the Low Pay Commission should be in a position to set a consistency about certain conditions for every apprentice. It should be the overarching body which sets the guidelines for various types of apprentices. As other Deputies have said, women are particularly affected by low pay issues. A total of 90% of those affected by the Dunnes Stores situation are women. This is the case throughout the service and retail sectors. The amendment does not intend to introduce different rates and the Minister of State acknowledged this. The Low Pay Commission should be the body which, from its inception and foundation, has enough ambition and manpower to be the overarching body for low pay in all areas. Rather than having a silo approach whereby various people have various areas of responsibility, we should give this body the teeth and resources from the start to tackle all of the issues, not only pay but, as other Deputies have said, accommodation, child care and all of the expenses which affect the value of pay. Let us do this now and not come back in a couple of months time with amending legislation, or when we see the various restrictions in the scope of the body, which we are identifying now and which we could fix now rather than have the body chained to its remit in a few years' time.

With regard to what Chancellor Osborne did yesterday, the view of a Tory, particularly that brand of Tory, of what is a living wage is very different from the view of 99% of the rest of the world. It is more an attempt to stifle debate on a living wage versus a minimum wage than anything else.

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