Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Senator for raising this very important issue. The directive on adequate minimum wages in the European Union was published on 19 October 2022. The Senator is correct when she says it must be transposed by 15 November of this year. The directive aims to ensure that workers and unions are protected by adequate minimum wages, allowing for a decent living wherever they work. The Government absolutely welcomed the publication of the directive and has been very supportive of its principles since it was first proposed. My officials have been heavily involved in the negotiations on the directive and are absolutely familiar with our obligations under it. There are three broad categories of obligations under the directive: the setting of minimum wages, the enhancement of collective bargaining coverage, and the improved enforcement and monitoring of wage protections. In considering our options for the transposition, my officials have been involved in bilateral engagements with several other member states as well as attending the European Commission’s transposition workshops aimed at assisting member states in transposing the directive, given the wide variety of approaches to minimum wage setting and collective wage bargaining across Europe.My Department also received legal advice on minimum wage and collective bargaining elements of the directive to ensure transposition by the mid-November deadline.

Article 4 of the directive, which deals with collective bargaining, is of particular interest to many stakeholders. This article requires member states with a collective bargaining coverage below 80%, such as Ireland, to provide "for a framework of enabling conditions for collective bargaining" and to publish an action plan to promote collective bargaining by the end of 2025. I would like to clarify that this is specifically for states that have less than 80%, but this is not a goal or what is set out in the directive. The Government is fully committed to developing a comprehensive and robust action plan, which is set out in the directive, and will do so in consultation with the social partners.

A working group has been established with Department officials and the social partners to examine what will be considered for inclusion in the plan. This group has met regularly and constructively this year. I also chaired a meeting in September of the LEEF subgroup on employment and enterprise at which the action plan was discussed with the social partners. On 15 October, the Cabinet was informed that my Department will publish the proposals for consultation and observations from interested stakeholders across the wider enterprise and employment sectors. That is consultation on proposals for the action plan. These include proposals arising from the LEEF high-level group report on collective bargaining, and those received from the social partners also. This consultation is to ensure that the views of all stakeholders are considered and included when we are finalising the content of Ireland’s action plan. It signals the Government’s strong commitment to ensuring we develop a comprehensive and robust plan. The feedback from the consultation will inform the future discussions of the working group on the content of the plan.

While my Department’s position is that no legislation is required to transpose Article 4 of the directive, legislation may separately be considered as part of Ireland’s action plan. Article 5 of the directive deals with the procedure for setting adequate statutory minimum wages, as the Senator said. Legal advice suggests that our current minimum wage setting framework, the Low Pay Commission, is already largely in compliance with the provisions of the directive, although there will be some minor amendments to the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 to bring the framework completely into line with the directive. The Government’s commitment to progress to a living wage, calculated as 60% of the median hourly wage, and the recent significant increases in the national minimum wage, a further one of which will commence in January, will help us meet our obligations in relation to the directive’s requirements around adequacy measures and indicative reference values for statutory minimum wages.

I reassure the Senator that the Government remains fully committed to continue to improve terms and conditions for workers. We have done an awful lot in this area in terms of a living wage, auto-enrolment, mandatory sick pay, and the right to request remote working. Most recently we have agreed to increase the national minimum wage from January, which will benefit workers ahead of inflation.