Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I will just say that the Dunnes Stores workers have shown the way. They are traditionally low-paid workers who kept us going at the front line. They put in a pay claim and got 10%. That is what they deserve. Especially after Covid, retail workers and lower paid workers should be getting pay increases in that order. The Government should actively try to facilitate that.

Last night the Parliamentary Budget Office pointed out to us the State contributory pension - I presume it is the same for the non-contributory pension - and all social welfare payments are actually losing out. In real terms, people are going to be 2% less well off as a result of inflation, unless we index-link their increases. Similarly with public sector workers if the pay increase is 1% and inflation is five times that, workers are losing out. The Government has a responsibility if it is serious about rewarding workers for hardships during Covid to do something to compensate workers for the rising cost of living.

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