Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are the party who introduced the legislative basis for the minimum wage in 2000 and, more recently, through the confidence and supply agreement in 2019, we ensured the implementation of the restrictive use of the zero-hour contracts. I recall as an Opposition Deputy between 2011 and 2016 when we had little influence and people on the opposite side of the House who had long promised the restrictive use of the zero-hour contracts were able to deliver it when they were in government.

Charles Dickens once said: "Annual income twenty pounds; annual expenditure nineteen [pounds] ... and six [pence], result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds and ... six, result misery."

Increasing the minimum wage or seeking to introduce a living wage alone is not the answer to what is facing many ordinary workers. The Low Pay Commission was established to depoliticise the issue. Its principal function was to bring forward a recommendation to the Minister who must set out a minimum wage that is fair and sustainable, adjusted incrementally over time and progressively increased to assist as many low-paid workers as possible without creating significant adverse consequences for employment or competitiveness.

The Government can, as alluded to by the Minister, accept, reject or amend the recommendation and, in this instance, it has chosen to suspend the implementation of the minimum wage until such time as it sees fit. If the Government has chosen not to increase the minimum wage, what is it doing to ensure it tackles the exorbitant costs of living? Its record on tackling the exorbitant costs of living has been dismal to date. All one need do is consider housing. Rental costs are spiralling and mortgage interest rates are higher than anywhere else in the EU.

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