Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

Where is the nuance? Will the Minister of State tell me why 18-year-olds should be legally paid 80% of the minimum wage? They cannot tell their landlord they will only pay 80% of the rent. They cannot give a supermarket 80% of the cost of their groceries. What is the objective justification for paying a young person less than the minimum wage purely on the basis of his or her age?

When is the economic impact assessment going to happen? The Department officials came before the committee in September and said they had started it - it was another exercise in kicking the can down the road - and it would be ready in six to nine months. Six months have now passed. When is it going to be ready? It is time to stop kicking the can down the road. The issue is not enormously complex. It is clear we now have an obligation under the EU directive on minimum wages to get rid of this because there is no objective justification for it. That is what the Low Pay Commission is saying. Instead, the Department is allowing itself to just represent the interests of some of the lowest-paying employers in the country - people who want to employ workers on less than the minimum wage. There is no objective justification for that. It is fundamentally unjust.

See this speech in context