Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

Many people will have been surprised to see the Tánaiste last night become a new convert to concern about poverty, mental health and ordinary workers. If they thought that was real, they will be quickly disabused of the notion when they hear about the decision of the Cabinet today to increase the minimum wage by a miserly 10 cent, from €10.10 per our to €10.20 per hour, which is an increase of less than 1%. This for the workers on the front line who have been stocking the supermarket shelves, selling the goods and delivering to people, and for whom the Government has been very happy to clap but is not willing to allow a decent pay rise to a living wage. The Taoiseach earns ten times their wage. He takes home €4,000 per week compared to their wage of €400 per week, not to mention the Taoiseach's pension. Given the overwhelming public support for front-line workers and those who have kept our society running at this time, how can the Government refuse to give a decent wage increase for low-paid workers?

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