Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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10. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the measures she will take to address the over concentration of women in precarious work and in receipt of low pay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32942/16]

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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What specific measures will the Minister take to deal with the over-concentration of women in precarious work and the fact that many of them are in receipt of low pay?

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Women’s participation in the labour force has been on a long-term upward trend in Ireland. For example, the participation rate for women in the workforce rose from 49% in 2003 to 53.6% in quarter two of 2016. The Deputy will be aware the Low Pay Commission submitted its second report on the national minimum wage in July 2016. In its report, the commission noted that between 63% and 74% of those workers earning the minimum wage are women.

It is the view of the commission that a national minimum wage provides the best model to establish a pay floor below which no one should be expected to work. A pay floor protects those workers who are vulnerable and prone to being exploited. This includes women.

The preponderance of women on the national minimum wage was also highlighted in the commission’s 2015 report. In order to obtain a better understanding of the composition and profile of this group and the underlying causality, the Low Pay Commission was asked, as part of its 2016 work programme, to examine this issue and report its views on the underlying reasons for this position and to make any recommendations it considered appropriate. The commission submitted its report to me last Tuesday and I am currently considering its contents.

On Thursday of last week, I signed an employment regulation order providing for higher rates of pay for approximately 30,000 workers in the contract cleaning sector, the majority of whom are women.

If the Deputy has any supplementary questions, I will answer them.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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The signing of the order last week is very welcome. I am aware of the two reports from the Low Pay Commission but my question was addressed to the Minister or Minister of State. The commission is an advisory body so the Minister is not bound by the recommendations in the report. What measures will the Minister of State take to address the issues I raised?

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The Low Pay Commission is an independent body set up by the Government. The Government asked it to look at why there are so many women on the minimum wage. That report came into me last week. I will go through it briefly with the Deputy. I do not have much time but the report will be made available to the Deputy very early next week. The report highlighted the predominant issues that affect the risk of being on the minimum wage. They appear to depend on the sector in which one works and whether one works part time or full time. It is important to bear that in mind. The sector one works in and whether one is part time or full time affect the risk. It has to be noted that there are close to twice as many women as men on the national minimum wage. Between a third and a half of this imbalance is a result of caring responsibilities, the hours they work and the sectors in which they are employed. The CSO figures are very useful to us in dealing with the situation, which we will deal with. With regard to part-time work, 24% of females indicated they were on the minimum wage for the simple reason they were caring for children and adults.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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The Minister of State has exceeded his time.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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A further 28% of them said it was for personal or family reasons. In the budget, we have looked at the whole area of looking after children.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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It is Deputy Quinlivan's final question. We cannot exceed the time.

Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his answer and I look forward to getting the report next week or the week after. My main concern is that the Low Pay Commission is an advisory body and it is the Minister who has to take action to deal with the two issues. That is what I would like the Minister of State to come back to me on.

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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The Low Pay Commission is a very serious body which puts a lot of effort into the work it does, particularly on the minimum wage. It has regular meetings and is made up of nine people who are experts in their area. They represent businesses, workers and academics and they take their work seriously. I met Dr. de Buitléir last Tuesday and we went through the report which I am considering at the moment. In the report there is no explanation as to why so many women earn the minimum wage. Women are more likely to work part time than men. In some cases, it is partly by choice because it suits them to have flexible opportunities. I ask the Deputy to study the report. I have no problem consulting with him and talking to him about it. If he has some recommendations, we will take them on board. The Low Pay Commission has worked really hard on this report. It is not complete but it is the best it can do in the circumstances.

Pat Gallagher (Donegal, Fianna Fail)
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Question No. 11 is in the name of Deputy McConalogue, who is not present, so we will move to Question No. 12 in the name of Deputy Maurice Quinlivan.