Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome this motion on the national minimum wage from Solidarity-People Before Profit and add my support to it. This is more than just a discussion on what represents a realistic minimum wage.

It is also a discussion about low pay, poverty and workers and families struggling to make ends meet and living from week to week on the wages they receive. According to data from the OECD, Ireland has a far higher level of low pay than countries of similar economic status. Raising the minimum wage, while raising the level of pay, may still not represent a living wage which is defined as "a wage that provides an employee with sufficient income to achieve a minimum acceptable standard of living". A living wage allows the worker to afford basic essentials such as healthcare, food, clothing, housing, education, energy costs, and so on. Low pay can result in an individual making compromises between putting food on the table, heating the house or going to the doctor. Every week hundreds of thousands of people throughout the country on low pay must figure out how to pay their rent, pay for their utilities, transport, food, clothing, childcare costs and so on.

Low pay has a cost to the economy and society as well by reducing tax revenue and increasing demands for welfare allowances and social protection payments. There are clear costs both to the economy and to the worker with regard to low pay. These costs are further exacerbated when both the cost of living and inflation rise and huge numbers of workers are only a pay cheque away from poverty. Currently, inflation is at its highest in 20 years and the cost of living is spiralling out of control. A proper living wage would significantly address both income inequality and poverty levels. Contract workers and temporary workers are particularly vulnerable groups when it comes to low pay. Figures show that half of all hospitality workers are on low pay, as are significant numbers of cleaners and retail workers. Such employees would benefit greatly from increases to the minimum wage and would significantly improve their living standards. Workers need a greater voice to improve pay and working conditions. There should be better regulation of the exploitative gig economy. There should also be improvements in public services and a real effort made to reduce income inequality. Until such measures are put in place, hundreds of thousands of workers will remain vulnerable and living barely above the poverty line.

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