Johnny Mythen (Wexford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I commend the Labour Party on introducing this Bill, which is aptly timed and welcome. Workers, in particular low- and middle-income families, are under extreme financial strain. The consumer price index, CPI, is hovering at 6.9%, with the likelihood of it peaking at between 7% and 8.2% mid-summer. The latest European Commission figures show Ireland as having the fourth dearest energy costs in Europe. That is before any added Government VAT or other taxes. On top of all of this, energy companies surreptitiously increased their electricity, gas and oil prices, increasing the average family's annual electricity and gas bills by €800. Add to this the carbon tax, the property tax and the cost of home heating oil and you will have very little left in your pocket if you are on a low income of €350 per week or an average take-home pay of €750 per week. In fact, you will have no disposable income whatsoever. This is why we need the Government to support the Living Wage Bill. It will change the Low Pay Commission into the living wage commission and give the new commission a remit to make recommendations on a living wage within the parameters of a three-year cycle.

We must come to the consensus that a worker should have the right to a minimum hourly rate of pay that allows him or her to make a sustainable and qualitatively decent living regardless of where he or she works. Under the programme for Government, the Government has committed to progressing the minimum wage into a living wage. The Government is halfway through its term but has still made little or no progress. Now is the time to put its words into action. We in Sinn Féin have always, and will always, stand by the working people of Ireland.

I thank the Labour Party for introducing this Bill and look forward to the Government's committed support for a living wage, as outlined in the programme for Government.

See this speech in context