Pat Buckley (Cork East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I too welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill and acknowledge the fact that the Labour Party has put it forward. This issue is not something new. A recent article titled "Sinn Féin TD says 'living wage' is needed to address cost of living crisis" stated:

Speaking in the Dáil on a Sinn Féin proposal to introduce a 'living wage' of €12.90, local TD Brian Stanley said there was a "crisis in the cost of living" with rents and other prices soaring while wages remained static...

This debate goes back to 2015. We are now in 2022 and we are still talking about it. The Minister of State mentioned the minimum wage but as others have said, a living wage is what is needed. We are all aware of the issue in our own constituencies where people simply cannot afford to live. I was struck that in this Bill, a living wage is defined as an annual wage that "in the opinion of the Commission, if paid to a single adult person living alone and in full-time employment, would afford the person a standard of living that meets the physical, psychological and social needs". That is the key to this Bill, that commonsense approach. I saw something on social media during the week that showed how workers are being pitted against each other. A person driving a machine on a building site said he was working for X amount a week building houses and yet he would not be able to afford them. That is the reality of what is happening in the country at the moment because people do not have a living wage to survive.

In his opening statement, the Minister of State mentioned that he would not be opposing this Bill and other Deputies stated that, although they would not oppose it, they would not support it either. That worries me. Matters have not moved quickly since 2015, but I hope that this Bill progresses with the support of everyone in the House. Please God, we will set down a standard and be able to look back some day and say that the House did the right thing for once.

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