Niall Ó Brolcháin (Green Party)

I endorse the comments of Senator Quinn and congratulate the former Senator Doherty. Can we have a debate on the minimum wage? It is important we have a debate on the issue because it is going almost unnoticed that it is proposed to reduce the minimum wage by €1 an hour, which amounts to approximately €2,000 per annum to the lowest paid in society. The Croke Park agreement protects the wages of workers covered by that agreement but those at the lowest end of society potentially will have their wages reduced by up to €2,000 per annum. A case has been put that this will create jobs.