Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know Deputy Bacik would not wish to misrepresent our position. There will be no rowing back on workers' rights. There is nothing I have said, nothing the Government has done and nothing the Government has indicated that suggests I am rowing back. The question, and it is a legitimate question, is on the pace at which costs come at small businesses. This is why, prior to my election as Taoiseach, the Government carried out a cost of doing business review. It was carried out by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department of Social Protection. This report has been sent to the Low Pay Commission for the very reasons Deputy Bacik outlined. It is statutorily obliged to take into consideration the cost of doing business and the impact of it to arrive at an evidence-based approach. It now has this and I have no doubt it will do its job. I acknowledge the job it does.

We generally make decisions on Low Pay Commission reports around the budget time. It is not on budget day but around budget time. It is a good time to do it because it allows us to look at things in the whole. This is what we will do. An economic assessment of that report will be carried out now and we will make decisions around budget time.

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