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

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "Dáil Éireann" and substitute the following: "acknowledges the essential work that has been carried out by so many different workers in the public and private sector during the ongoing Covid-19 public health emergency, and thanks those workers for their continued efforts;

endorses the commitment within the Programme for Government to move to a living wage over the lifetime of the Government as part of the development of a new social contract between citizens and the State;

notes that the Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation is appealing the High Court ruling that Chapter Three of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 is unconstitutional;

recognises the need for the Government to have a strong focus on job retention and creation, given the number of people whose employment has been threatened as a result of the Covid-19 public health emergency; and

resolves that the forthcoming July jobs initiative and the subsequent National Economic Plan contain substantial and innovative measures of scale to support the retention of employment where possible and the creation of new, good quality sustainable jobs in areas of opportunity."

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this very important debate and I thank the Social Democrats for tabling the motion. It gives us an opportunity to debate where we are going with workers' rights and sustainable employment. I, too, acknowledge the essential work that has been carried out by so many different workers in the public and private sectors during the Covid-19 public health emergency: our front-line healthcare workers, the people who work in our supermarkets, our home carers, people working throughout retail, people who collect our refuse and so many more. I thank those workers for their continued efforts. They have carried us through these very challenging times, made so many people feel safe and done so much for so many people. It is also important we acknowledge all workers who have made the necessary adjustments this health emergency has required. I know that remote working has imposed its own challenges through these difficult and continuously changing times. We are all learning and doing our best to stop the spread of the virus. I thank those people also. The time for adjustment is not over. We must continue to balance public health concerns with economic and social challenges. Collectively, we have a responsibility to work together to address those challenges and the other challenges facing our country.

It is for this reason that my party signed up to the programme for Government and to participate in government in order that we can influence change. Within the programme for Government there is a commitment to progressing a living wage over the lifetime of the Government. There is, however, an immediate challenge this year and next year for sectors such as hospitality, retail and tourism, where much of the low-paid employment is apparent. Anyone who walks through the streets of Dublin or any provincial town will see, unfortunately, that many people in these sectors are still not working. It was in this context that the previous Government introduced the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, and the temporary wage subsidy, to ensure that people who had been working on the lowest incomes were protected during this pandemic. Our priority as a Government must be, in the short and medium term, to get these people back to work and restore employment. That is why next week's job stimulus is so important, to ensure that measures are introduced to support business to bring people back from unemployment and into employment. That is why this week the Cabinet approved a credit guarantee scheme and next week we will see improvement to the restart grant and a commitment to extend the wage subsidy in order that people can have confidence that their jobs will be protected into the future.

The intention of the Government is to restore employment, and as we work towards that we will move towards realising the ambition of a living wage. This will require cross-party support, and I welcome suggestions on how this can be achieved. The living wage is an estimate made by a number of NGOs, civil society groups and academics doing research in this area. It is based on research identifying the income required for the minimum essential standard of living for a single adult household in Ireland. This research is conducted by the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice. The programme for Government is committed to a move to a living wage over the lifetime of the Government.

In this context it is important that Ireland's statutory minimum wage and the living wage concept are not conflated. The living wage is a voluntary societal initiative centred on a social, business and economic case to ensure that, wherever it can be afforded, employers will provide a rate of pay that provides an income that is sufficient to meet individuals' basic needs, such as housing, food, clothing, transport and healthcare. It is for this reason that we are addressing the costs of childcare and housing and making affordable housing a key priority of the Government. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, is already out making the case for the provision of affordable housing.

The national minimum wage has a legislative basis and confers a statutory entitlement on employees and a statutory obligation on employers. The national minimum wage is a legally binding lowest average hourly rate that can be paid by an employer to an employee. The rate is set and governed by the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, which applies to all employees, including full-time, part-time, temporary and casual employees, with some exceptions. Legislation on the setting of the national minimum wage has existed since 2000. The Low Pay Commission was established in 2015 and its primary function is, annually, to examine and make recommendations on the national minimum wage with a view to providing for adjustments which do not negatively impact jobs or competitiveness. The commission takes an evidence-based approach to its recommendations, having regard to changes in earnings, productivity, overall competitiveness and the likely impact any adjustment will have on employment and unemployment levels. Since the establishment of the Low Pay Commission, the Government has accepted all recommendations it has made for the national minimum wage.

The national minimum wage approach seeks to find a balance between a fair and sustainable rate for low-paid workers and one that will not have significant negative consequences for employers and competitiveness. It has to be a pragmatic approach, providing a clearly defined minimum hourly rate for employers, giving them the freedom to pay higher rates while providing a measure of security for low-paid workers. As it is legally enforceable, it provides protection for workers. More broadly, the setting of wages is a matter between employers and employees, which takes place in the context of the market, and the Government does not interfere unduly in the process. There is widespread evidence that shows that a minimum wage is a blunt tool for reducing poverty as many minimum wage earners are sometimes located in households higher in the income distribution. This was found in the ESRI's report on the impact of the minimum wage on household income distribution. Therefore, it is integral that other work supports are in place for low-income families.

We should have learned from recent months, however, and we have learned through striving together against something that threatens all of us that we can work together to shape our common future. All the economic initiatives must be centred on employment, retaining existing jobs, creating new jobs and providing a strong focus on quality employment with good terms and conditions and a work-life balance.

The Government is asserting its ambition to meet these challenges, repair the damage that has been inflicted by the pandemic and take renewed spirit arising from these challenging times and translate it into action - action that can deliver a better quality of life for everybody, equality within society and a deeper sense of connection to the natural world around us and to each other. That is the most effective response to concerns about poverty and inequality. It is the best way to provide more and better opportunities for all our people.

The Government supports an approach to the minimum wage which seeks to find a balance between a fair and sustainable rate of pay for low-paid workers and one that will not have significant consequences for employers and competitiveness. The Government will continue to be guided by the evidence-based recommendations from the Low Pay Commission when considering changes to the national minimum wage. The Programme for Government: Our Shared Future, in its commitment to valuing those in low-paid employment, includes a commitment to progress to a living wage over the lifetime of this Government and this important work will commence shortly. The best antidote to poverty and inequality is to focus on employment, ensuring people have access to jobs and that those jobs are of good quality with a strong social insurance safety net for when it is needed. Before we make greater strides for the benefit of our workforce, our initial and unrelenting focus must be on getting people back to work and preserving and protecting people in precarious situations at the moment.

I am confident we can achieve a better life for all. We must take the good things we have learned from the pandemic and employ them towards a resilient future. This Government will facilitate and support remote working, reduce the time wasted in our cars and ensure families have more time together. I commend the Government’s countermotion to the House.

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