Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

However, the law allows for any employer to make a declaration if it cannot afford to pay the minimum wage. This rarely, if ever, occurs. We should be clear that if some small employers, like shops located in rural areas, are genuinely unable to meet the specified increase in the minimum wage, the facility exists for them to declare, faithfully and honestly, that they are unable to accede to the direction. They can then be exempted in specified circumstances. If we move towards a genuine living wage, this mechanism might be used more often, and that is what it is there for. Some people might worry that a higher minimum wage might lead to fewer jobs. However, successive economic studies, including by the International Monetary Fund, have concluded that setting higher wages for the very lowest paid in the economy has little or no effect on employment levels across the whole economy. Higher wages for the lowest paid end up spent in the local economy, which is beneficial in terms of creating and sustaining jobs.

Higher minimum wages are not a silver bullet for in-work poverty. We have sought to outlaw zero-hour contracts but there are still many workers who do not have certainty about their hours on a weekly basis or who are working part time because they cannot secure full-time work. As far as the Labour Party is concerned, it should be the goal of the Government and society to attain genuine full employment, which means a full-time job for everyone who is able to work full-time hours, and a level of pay that is sufficient to avoid poverty or deprivation. Everyone working full time should be able to attain a minimum essential standard of living, which should be based on evidence of the cost of essential goods and services and set relative to the median income in society. For these reasons, the Labour Party will support tonight's motion on a living wage and I hope Sinn Féin will reciprocate and support the Labour Party's amendment that includes the role of the Low Pay Commission. It would tie in nicely with the objectives of the motion.

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