Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy. We both know how statistics work and it depends on how they are measured. I appreciate the figure the Deputy has used on the proportion of Irish people on low pay but it is skewed by the fact we have such a high number of people on very high pay. This brings up the median. It is equally true that average pay in Ireland is 30% to 40% higher than in the average European country. Of course the cost of living is also higher. Our national minimum wage is in the top three or five in cash terms. Even when we adjust for purchasing power parity the cost of living is still in the top five or six of European countries. These are other facts. What the Deputy said is true but what I have said is equally true.

When it comes to the national minimum wage governments, including governments the Deputy's party was involved in, have always accepted the recommendations of the Low Pay Commission. It is true that we do not have to and we could reject it. We could say it did not matter that there was a very clear majority in favour of a recommendation and that we were rejecting it. I have to have regard to small businesses also. Many of them say they will struggle to pay the increase in the minimum wage. I think I have made the right call. If the number of people in work in Ireland this time next year has not fallen then I have made the right call but if it does fall I have to have regard to it.

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