Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It will not pay the rent in my constituency and I doubt it will in the Tánaiste's constituency either. It is not that I do not acknowledge that there is a move. However it is not adequate. It goes without saying that I agree with the minority report of the trade union representatives. The majority may have voted in favour of the 80 cent but the workers' representatives on the commission did not. That tells a tale in itself.

If the Tánaiste sticks with the timetable as outlined, the commitment given in his programme for Government will not be realised. He has pushed it out to beyond the end of the term of this Government. If he is going to put something into the programme then there should be a realistic timeframe for introducing it and he has pushed it out beyond the term of Government. How can people take seriously commitments given in the programme for Government if those that affect low-income workers and the people who most need it are going to be pushed beyond the end of the lifetime of the Government?

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