Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate that Senator Keane has made contact with my office in that regard and there has been some correspondence. The Low Pay Commission will be looking at a range of sectors in the economy and different issues around low pay. I appreciate and accept what Senator Keane said. The child care sector is an extremely important one for society. The Minister for Children and Youth Affairs, Deputy James Reilly, is reviewing the operation of the child care sector. We should all aim to ensure we have not only a good private child care system but also a good public community child care system. Child care is all too expensive for working families and acts as a barrier for many parents in terms of accessing the workplace or further education. I accept that a discussion on salaries and the nature of work in the child care profession is needed. It could be examined in tandem with the review being carried out by the Department of Children and Youth Affairs. However, I will not be prescriptive at this point about the work programme of the Low Pay Commission because, as I hope the legislation and terms of reference make clear, that would require consultation and deliberation at Government level between all Ministers who wish to have an input into the work programme of the Low Pay Commission.

The legislation envisages that the Low Pay Commission would be provided with its mandate for the year in February of each year, and if amendment No. 15 is accepted, which I hope will be the case, we will be able to do initial work this year. We will be able to identify areas of concern on which reports could be drawn up. That is a matter for the whole of Government. I have my views on the matter but it would be unwise to put on the record today any specific sector or element of the economy to be examined by the Low Pay Commission at this point. Its primary focus only a week after its establishment on an interim basis is to examine the next rate of the national minimum wage and it is currently using all the resources at its disposal to do that.