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

We raised this issue in the course of the debate on this Bill and I thank the Minister for taking note of the points made. They were not made for any political purpose, but rather to ensure the law works as was intended when the Low Pay Commission was established. Every party in this House might be in government at some stage. We wanted to take the politics out of it. That was very important, and the Minister has recognised that.

The minimum wage is another example of the burden this Brexit budget will place on the lowest paid in society. Brexit has become a convenient excuse, though I hope that is not what is happening here. Hopefully, regardless of what happens in the British election, those low-paid workers can look forward to some small increase in January. I got so excited about this earlier that I said 1985 rather than 1980. The minimum wage should be increasing much more. However, I take the point that many small businesses cannot afford such an increase. A condition in the Bill allows businesses to make that point, so I urge businesses which find this increase difficult to utilise that mechanism. They are at the bottom of the low-wage market. It is not acceptable that people must wait for a modest pay increase to offset inflation and the significant cost of living.

There was a real danger that unless the Minimum Wage Act 2000 was amended, the ministerial discretion to stall the minimum wage could become a permanent feature of the law. We went to great pains to set up the Low Pay Commission in order that the minimum wage would not be subject to partisan politics from whatever party or source. That comment does not refer to the Minister or anybody else. We have now removed that feature and in fairness to the Minister, she also increased the PRSI threshold. There is always the law of unintended consequences, which is why rushed legislation is a disaster. The Minister stalled the Bill and wrote us a letter, for which I thank her. We are delighted that the amendment has been taken on board. The Minister's concomitant amendment to deal with the PRSI threshold is absolutely vital as well, which we acknowledge.

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