Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Women’s participation in the labour force has been on a long-term upward trend in Ireland. For example, the participation rate for women in the workforce rose from 49% in 2003 to 53.6% in quarter two of 2016. The Deputy will be aware the Low Pay Commission submitted its second report on the national minimum wage in July 2016. In its report, the commission noted that between 63% and 74% of those workers earning the minimum wage are women.

It is the view of the commission that a national minimum wage provides the best model to establish a pay floor below which no one should be expected to work. A pay floor protects those workers who are vulnerable and prone to being exploited. This includes women.

The preponderance of women on the national minimum wage was also highlighted in the commission’s 2015 report. In order to obtain a better understanding of the composition and profile of this group and the underlying causality, the Low Pay Commission was asked, as part of its 2016 work programme, to examine this issue and report its views on the underlying reasons for this position and to make any recommendations it considered appropriate. The commission submitted its report to me last Tuesday and I am currently considering its contents.

On Thursday of last week, I signed an employment regulation order providing for higher rates of pay for approximately 30,000 workers in the contract cleaning sector, the majority of whom are women.

If the Deputy has any supplementary questions, I will answer them.

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