Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

As the Tánaiste is aware, I have expressed my scepticism already in respect of the Low Pay Commission and my concern that it will come back with too low a figure. It has previous on this with the national minimum wage, when it came back with figures that would have been described at the time as desultory, paltry and pathetic. It does not give me huge confidence if we are leaving the matter with the commission.

For many of our low-paid workers, the introduction of a living wage could be the difference between poverty and a minimum standard of living. The Tánaiste will be aware that a motion on a living wage that I introduced in November 2019 in the Thirty-second Dáil was passed. A living wage is vitally important to those workers on low wages and I believe it will be an important tool in ensuring that people remain in jobs that they would otherwise aspire to leave. Some of them know that they cannot stay in those jobs on the wages they are on. I urge the Tánaiste to use his influence to ensure that a real living wage is introduced in the quickest possible timeframe - a living wage that is decent and fair, and protects workers and businesses.

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