Gerald Nash (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to support this Bill. It is simple and straightforward legislation, which I believe can help to make our workplaces more equal. The statutory minimum floor is the floor beneath which no worker should be allowed to fall. The principle of a legal minimum rate of pay is a critical one and something that must be protected.

The establishment of the Low Pay Commission in 2015 was a very important expression of the value that the then Government placed on maintaining a baseline of decency for Irish workers. I was interested to hear Senator Davitt’s remarks regarding Fianna Fáil’s record on the national minimum wage. He refrained from reminding the House that when the crash came, among the first victims were the considerable number of workers in this society who were on the national minimum wage rate.