Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am very grateful to Senator Sherlock for raising this extremely important issue. I will deal specifically with the adequate minimum wage directive as per her remarks. It is important to give a bit of background and context to what the Department is doing on the directive and its transposition. As the Senator is aware, the directive was published on 19 October last year and it must be transposed by 15 November 2024. I welcome the directive, as I did when it was published, as someone who, like the Senator, was once elected to the labour panel of the House.

The Government is extremely supportive of the principles of the directive. It must be noted that at the outset it was the Irish officials negotiating this who were pushing hard to have it achieved. The Government has consistently stated its full support for the directive and the obligations that will come with it. Officials in the Department have begun to consider their options for the transposition of the directive, including through bilateral engagement with other EU member states. This will be an extremely important part of the process. It is important to note the European Commission has advised that it intends to hold transposition workshops to assist member states in transposing the directive given the wide variety of approaches to minimum wage settings and collective bargaining throughout the EU. It is very important that we await these workshops before we make any final decision on the transposition of the directive.

Our initial analysis suggests our current minimum wage setting framework, the Low Pay Commission, is already largely in compliance with the minimum wage provisions of the directive. We have one of the highest minimum wages in the EU. The recent announcement that we are moving towards a living wage by January 2026 will help us meet our obligations on the directive's requirements on adequacy measures and indicative reference values for statutory minimum wages.

Article 4 of the directive, which deals with collective bargaining, is of particular interest to many stakeholders. The Senator referenced this at length in her opening remarks. While I will not respond on these matters directly because I do not believe they are appropriate for this debate, I will take the Senator's concerns directly on board and bring them back to the Minister. Article 4 requires Ireland to develop an action plan to promote collective bargaining. The work of the Labour Employer Economic Forum, LEEF, high-level working group on collective bargaining, which was established to explore mechanisms to enhance existing industrial relations framework with a view to encouraging greater collective bargaining coverage in Ireland, is of particular relevance here. The group met 11 times and had a public consultation on the issue. It has submitted its recommendations. Officials in the Department are formulating proposals on the implementation of this report and with regard to bringing a memorandum to the Government on its implementation by the end of this year.

The Government is fully committed to improving terms and conditions for workers. Our commitment to this is not just a talking point. We made real and substantial progress on it during the Taoiseach's time in the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment. This stands the test of time notwithstanding the one or two issues the Senator has cited. From the steady increases to the minimum wage, the progression to living wage, the introduction of mandatory sick pay, which I very much hope to see extended in the coming years, the new pensions auto-enrolment scheme and the right to request remote working, our work and commitment are clear. The directive will build on this work and further enhance the terms and conditions for workers in Ireland.I welcome the detail provided by the Minister of State. Nonetheless, while he is waiting for the transposition workshops, we hope work is being undertaken in the Department in parallel.

There are two further issues I wish to raise. The Minister of State's officials were heavily involved in the negotiations, which is very welcome. It is important to put on record that the Department at one stage wanted this directive to be delegated to the realm of a recommendation as opposed to a directive, but thankfully it is a directive now.

Lastly, I refer to the living wage. I do not for a moment doubt the bona fides of the Government in terms of wanting to move towards a living wage, but the increase in the minimum wage, as of January 2023, did not move the existing minimum wage one iota towards 60% of median wages in this country. In fact, it remains stuck at somewhere around 50%. Again, I urge the Minister of State, in the context of his new role, to set out a detailed timeline on how he will get it to the living wage by 2026 because, right here and now, it is not in any way apparent.