Mary White (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for providing a copy of his paper. I endorse what he says. The changes he is proposing, such as the establishment of the Low Pay Commission on a statutory basis, essentially take the politics out of setting the national minimum wage. It is very much in keeping with the dignity at work agenda which he is pursuing and complements work such as the study on zero-hour and low-hour contracts by the University of Limerick, a study which has just come out and on which I have already spoken in the House.

As an employer I like to see myself as someone who speaks both on behalf of employers and of employees. I co-founded Lir Chocolates with Connie Doody in 1987 and my sole reason was to create employment. If I may detract from my skills in this instance, I never had a profit. We had a very serious crisis in Ireland with unemployment at the time - the economy was black in the 1980s. In some areas of the country and in this city we had 40% unemployment. I saw the transformation in a person when they got a job. I saw their self-confidence grow when they realised they were able for a job. Their social interaction improved and it was not just about the money. It was about meeting with other human beings every day and being able to get up out of bed and have somewhere to go every day.

I am different from colleagues in that I will not commit myself to saying what the increase in the minimum wage should be. I do not think the Minister of State referred to this in his speech. He said Fianna Fáil made a mistake in reducing the minimum wage when it did and that the current Government had put it back up. However, one cannot do that with companies as they make their financial plans a year in advance so companies have not allowed for an introduction of the minimum wage now. They have already done their deals with the people to whom they are selling their products. I am all for an increase in the minimum wage but I am not at all sure what it should be. I totally believe it has to be increased but it has to be timed for when it suits those people who employ other people.

Fianna Fáil's introduction of the minimum wage in 2000, which gave all employees a legal entitlement to the wage, was positive and I went to Mary Harney to congratulate her on that achievement as I am convinced there has to be a legal minimum wage. However, because of the lack of businesspeople in Government we increased it every year. In 2000, Germany and Ireland were parallel in terms of wages but over the next seven years ours went up so much relative to Germany that we lost our competitiveness. The reason I speak on behalf of employers as well is that once one decides to increase a minimum wage it has to be done in a planned way.If it is increased by €1, the person above the minimum wage will also want an increase. I heard no reference in the Minister of State's speech to this. I am not criticising him, as he is on the right track and his heart is in the right place, but he must allow for other employees who want an increase in their wages. This was not mentioned in his speech.

Although I complimented Ms Mary Harney at the time, the then Government increased the minimum wage every year, so everyone else wanted a wage increase. One cannot do that to businesses. I am supportive of a minimum wage, but we must do this in a planned way so that companies can plan their business. They cannot just do this or that willy-nilly. This will change their pricing structures. I spoke to a business person this morning who told me that she would have to increase her prices. So what? Increase them if necessary.

This must be done thoughtfully. The Minister of State's sentiments are good and he mentioned that this would be assessed every year, but that assessment must be done carefully. Our economy's ethos must be to provide sustainable jobs. The dignity of workers is No. 1 in terms of people's self-confidence and reaching their full potential.

I laud the appointment of Dr. Donal de Buitléir as chairperson of the low pay commission. He is a man of integrity and practical common sense. However, I would have liked to have seen more business people involved. There is Mr. Vincent Jennings and the CEO of the Maxol Group, who is quite a big shot and does not quite represent the small and medium-sized enterprises, SMEs, that we are discussing and that are creating employment. I do not know what employment the Maxol Group has created. He is president of IBEC and so on, but I would have liked to have seen a group that was more representative of the SMEs that are attempting to grow, increase their sales and, thereby, create employment. They are at the coalface of job creation. More jobs are created in new businesses than anywhere else, which the Minister of State knows as well as I do. I am speaking from the point of view of human dignity. Having a job is the most important factor for any human being. Anyone who can get up and go to work everyday will survive the trials and tribulations of life.

My hero in all of this is Seán Lemass. He had the guts to turn from protectionism and change his mind. This was because he was a businessman and was not afraid. Governments introduce policies, carve them in stone and are terrified to change them in case they seem like mistakes. If one is in business, one must adapt plans as one goes. It is about changing and not carving any policy in stone.

I commend the Minister of State, of whom I am a fan. I will put a couple of further points on the record that can help.