Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister mentioned again that he does not have to accept the recommendation. My point is that he could take it as the minimal rate by which he could increase it. He could increase it by more. He has to recognise the number of people on low pay and the costs they already have. We have had a cost-of-living issue in Ireland for as long as I can remember. There are various costs I have listed that people in Ireland are expected to pay that those in other countries do not. Those who come down from the North to live here are stunned by the fact they have to pay for school books and GP visits. These are very real things in the cost of living in Ireland. I have not mentioned housing or accommodation. I did mention childcare.

The point on the minimum wage increase is that the Minister could take the recommendation as 80 cent at a minimum. He has already made a commitment to move to a living wage so let us do it. We recognise now that all of these elements in the Irish economy are building up on families who are not able to afford them. Those at the lowest level will need extra support from the Government. The living wage would be a realistic measure to take to address it and give comfort to those workers at the lowest level in our economy. Most of them are women and they are disproportionately migrants.

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