Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It would behove the Deputy to better acknowledge the point I made that more than 94% of those who work for our public service earn a salary which is significantly ahead of the living wage. As an employer, the State is already exceeding the level of wages that would be created by the implementation of a living wage policy. Of the employees of the State, 94% have a salary which is in excess of that. In relation to those who are earning less than €20,589 and as I pointed out to the Deputy, they will be likely receiving additional payments for shift work and be on a salary scale which will give them the benefit of increments. The agreement we made recently with the Irish Congress of Trade Unions prioritises those on lower incomes for a faster rate of wage increase. It is precisely because I recognise that those on lower incomes face great challenges in getting by within our economy and have needs which we have a duty to try to meet that we have made a wage agreement that seeks to give wage increases to them at a faster rate than to those who earn more. It is cumulatively because of decisions which have been made in this area for decades that we are in a place in which the overwhelming majority of those who work for the State earn more than the living wage.

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