Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

As I stated on Second Stage, these are members from trade unions and civil society who have spent their entire professional lives, often in voluntary capacities, representing the interests of working people, particularly those in low pay or those on the margins of our society and economy.

The commission will not just be confining itself to desk-bound analysis of detailed economic and statistical data. Anyone can do that. It will also be obliged to engage face-to-face with employers in low-pay sectors across the country to get a handle on the lived experience of what it is like to run a business in this sector, as well as those working in this sector. It will be engaging on a series of different levels of consultations before it makes its annual recommendations to me or any future Minister on the appropriate rate for the minimum wage. Accordingly, I cannot accept amendment No. 26.