Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister said he expected the report next month. I have the privilege of being Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and I think when I listened carefully to a previous reply, the report was to be in the next few months. This is the difficulty. Can we get a precise time for when that report will be ready and when it will be published? Will the research and the report be published? I agree that one has to proceed cautiously, but not forever. Workers in this country could not survive without the benefit of the State through social welfare, which is €21 billion or €22 billion per year, a substantial proportion of which goes to back up inadequate wages. The Government knows that more than I do. It is essential we comply with what was set out in the programme for Government, which is a minimum wage. People cannot survive without it. The Government has heard all the fact and figures; I will not repeat them. At this point, I just want certainty regarding the report. When will it be published? I ask that the Government sticks to that date.

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