Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to share time with Deputy Joan Collins.

I am in full support of this motion to raise the minimum wage to €15 an hour. It is beyond time.

It is becoming increasingly impossible to live in this country on a minimum wage. We do not need to read the recent shocking inflation report to know this.

We see this and we have seen this in our communities for some time now. The cost of living in Ireland has risen exponentially to the point that people are becoming increasingly squeezed because while the cost of living has skyrocketed the minimum wage has barely moved.

I believe that the minimum wage should be set to match the rate of inflation. I have been particularly struck by the sense of complete hopelessness among young people recently. They are unable to have the same life as the generation before. The cost of living makes it difficult for them to save, own a car or start a family, and entirely impossible for them ever to own their own home, yet their wages do not reflect their increasingly difficult financial situation.

A lot of people in this country are just about getting by and many are struggling so they turn to their Government for answers. What is the response they get? To "stop complaining" and "shop around". I am truly disgusted at how out of touch this Government is with the people who elected them as representatives. It is incredibly insulting, and almost inhumane, to face people who really struggle to make ends meet and tell them they just are not shopping around enough. It is not as if anyone in this House would ever know what it is like to do that in today's world. It was timed perfectly for this motion for the Minister of State to say such a thing. It was not that he misspoke or anything because such views are a trait in the responses to parliamentary questions of all Ministers at this stage. If it were possible for people to better their financial situation by shopping around, why should they have to forgo the odd coffee, brunch or holiday or their Netflix subscription in order to do so? Why should they have to forgo the small things that make life a little bit more enjoyable and bearable just so that they can afford somewhere stable to live? God knows, nobody sitting here today would do so.

As well as that, the Government has once again completely neglected rural Ireland. The idea of shopping around completely ignores people living in rural areas of this country who do not have the option even if they wanted to do so. In my constituency of Donegal, there are many areas that have just one local shop. If one lives in Glencolumbkille, for example, one's nearest supermarket is in Killybegs, which is over 25 km away. In order to shop around, one would have to travel to the next nearest supermarket in Donegal town, which is over 50 km away. That is a round trip of over 100 km, which is a trip that nobody should have to take especially given the astronomical cost of fuel at the moment, which this Government insists on increasing.

Rural Ireland, once again, is suffering the consequences of a negligent and incompetent Government. To raise the minimum wage would go a long way in helping rural Ireland to repopulate and rebuild. It would also significantly help all of those who struggle with the rising cost of living and, shockingly, that includes many of our staff here in the Oireachtas.

It would be completely disingenuous for us all to stand here and discuss the minimum wage without acknowledging the fact that our own assistants get paid a mere €11.75 per hour, and this motion would affect them too. Before Christmas we all came in and sang their praises. We nodded and agreed that they deserved so much better. We are now in February but there still has been no movement on this matter because, once again, we have failed to put our money where our mouth is. The union asks are not complicated so I ask that the Government and HR meet them. I also ask that the minimum wage is raised in order to make life in this country a bit more bearable for the people in need.

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