Ivana Bacik (Dublin Bay South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, revealed today that inflation has surged to a 22-year high of 6.7%. The Central Bank of Ireland has projected that inflation is set to continue rising. Households are already squeezed financially and look set to be even further squeezed by this rise in inflation, given the rising costs of fuel, food and other commodities. As ever, these price rises and this increase in inflation will hit those on lowest incomes the hardest.

The Labour Party, however, believes the State can take action to address the hardships so many households are now facing. The reality is that for too long we have been a low-wage republic. We are saying that Ireland needs a pay rise. Far too many workers are on low pay. Ireland has one of the highest rates of low pay in Europe and the OECD, with 23% of people on low rates of pay. This is compounded by the rising cost of living. It is especially the case in Dublin, where we are seeing out-of-control rents and high costs for goods and services, as well as for early years education and childcare, which is leaving many households struggling to make ends meet and even to heat their homes and to put food on their tables. The Labour Party believes the best way to address this issue is to seek a way to increase take-home pay for working people and families. One way we can do this is to strengthen employees' power to negotiate pay rates and salaries and conditions with their employers. As a lifelong trade unionist, I believe we need to strengthen collective-bargaining rights and the ability of workers to negotiate these improved pay rates and conditions to ensure real and sustainable increases in income.

The State can also examine the national minimum wage. It is still only €10.50 per hour and this is significantly below the living wage figure of €12.90 per hour. We believe that a targeted emergency increase in the minimum wage would be one way of addressing the serious squeeze that the increases in the cost of living and the rising rate of inflation is putting on so many households on low incomes. People need a living-wage income. At the very minimum, they need an increase in the national minimum wage rate. We also believe that we must then set a pathway to achieving a genuine living wage rate.

Indeed, I note that the programme for Government of this Government promises to "Progress to a living wage over the lifetime of the Government", which means there is a de factodeadline of February 2025. Yet we have seen no movement to deliver on this promise. We have drafted a Bill that would change the mandate of the statutory Low Pay Commission and give us a genuine and effective pathway to achieving a real living wage rate. Therefore, we are calling first for an emergency increase in the national minimum wage rate of at least 30 cent an hour, to bring it up to €10.80 per hour. We are also seeking a pathway to achieving a genuine living income for those households being most affected and most squeezed and suffering the most hardships as the result of rising inflation and prices.

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