Thomas Pringle (Donegal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to this debate. As I have long been calling for review of the national hourly rate for employees, I am glad to see this Bill before the House today. We need to ensure the minimum wage in this country represents a living income, and at the very least the minimum wage should be brought in line with the living wage. We need to ensure adequate income and enable people to afford an acceptable standard of living.

The cost-of-living crisis has affected everyone in the country, but among those most affected are workers on the minimum wage. With the continual rise in prices, it is becoming increasingly difficult to get by on a living wage, never mind the minimum wage, which is much lower. We cannot expect people to continue to pay significantly more for everything while getting paid exactly the same wage. If workers' wages are not increased to reflect the cost-of-living increases, they are effectively taking a pay cut. I hope employers will reflect on this fact.

I also call on the Houses of the Oireachtas to reflect on this as our secretarial assistants continue to fight for their pay claim. Oireachtas staff are essential to the democratic process in this country and it is shameful they are forced continually to ask for a decent wage.

In my home town of Killybegs in Donegal, we are just at the beginning of our busy summer season when many tourists throughout the county and throughout the world come to visit our seaside town and the breathtaking Slieve League cliffs nearby.

It is a season that would not be possible without the many tourism and hospitality workers who are mostly on minimum wage incomes. The raising of the minimum wage would have a huge effect on towns along the Wild Atlantic Way, like Killybegs, where minimum wage workers are so heavily relied on. Ensuring those employed in rural Ireland are paid well is an important way to ensure people stay in rural areas, which would then contribute to rejuvenating town centres as well. We often forget that the enjoyment we get from the tourism and hospitality sector would not be possible without the many workers who hold this industry up. They do incredible work and contribute hugely to our tourism industry. They deserve to be recognised and compensated for this. Unfortunately, many employers do not recognise the value of a workforce in making their business sustainable and allowing it to grow in future. They think their business, just by the sake of them having it, should be enough whereas it is the workers who actually make a business work.

Inflation is surging to a 22-year high and the cost of housing, fuel and basic services is rising. How can we expect people on the minimum wage to keep up with these continuous rises? People are not asking for much; they are just asking to get by.

Overall, I support this Bill. It is a necessary first step to ensuring people are paid fairly. However, it does not go far enough. In the Bill, the Labour Party proposes to increase the minimum wage from €10.50 to €12.90 over three years. Due to the cost-of-living crisis we currently face, urgency is required. The minimum wage should be increased to €12.90 immediately and then we should look at raising it to €15 over the next three years. That would more adequately reflect the high cost of living in Ireland today. It would benefit employers to pay the minimum wage as well because many of their customers in rural Ireland are on the minimum wage too. If employers pay a higher minimum wage and their customers are getting extra money, there is more money for everybody to spend in the economy and that is important as well.

People in this country should not be struggling to get by. Our own staff should not be fighting for a living wage. It is time we started treating the people with the dignity and respect they deserve. We can start by ensuring everyone is paid a decent wage that would allow them the opportunity to live a decent life.

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