Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The ambition of the new Taoiseach to reset the messaging for Fine Gael and to go back to basics, as some people have described it, is worrying for working people across the country. This is especially the case if it is framed through the lens of worker versus business. That should not be the case. Quite frankly, however, that is how the mood music is being set. This is especially the case with comments made in recent weeks about, for example, the question of the extension of modest sick leave proposals to bring us in line with EU states against whom we like to compare ourselves. These are modest changes, yet some employer groups are saying, with a straight face, that the national minimum wage should not go up by any more than the rate of inflation. This is unacceptable to me and I hope it is unacceptable to the Minister. I would like the Minister to put on record his views on the proposition that some employer bodies are saying that, as far as they are concerned, the minimum wage should not increase by any more than the rate of inflation. What is the Minister's position on this proposition?

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