Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ms Patricia King of ICTU and Mr. Gerry Light of Mandate have been left with no option but to walk away from the Low Pay Commission. As the Taoiseach has said, the commission is not a arm of the Government. The representatives know that. They have walked away because they could not achieve at the table the minimum increase they required, of 2%. That was not a target; it was their floor. They could not even achieve that. My question is simple: does the Taoiseach propose to legislate for a meaningful increase in the minimum wage for workers or is he content to stand here, give them a round of applause and tell them to take that to Tesco and try to buy their food and groceries with it? These people have brought us through the pandemic. They are essential workers. The one thing the pandemic has done was give us an opportunity to re-evaluate the exact meanings of "front-line worker" and "essential worker". When we are talking about these workers, we are talking about cleaners and people who work in retail, the supply chain, hospitality and accommodation. Many of them have lost their jobs.

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