Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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The minimum wage was established just over a quarter of a century ago, in April 2000, two years before the first euro notes and coins were circulated in Ireland. Just like the euro, the minimum wage has become an accepted and crucial element of our economy. At the time of its introduction, no political party represented in the Oireachtas opposed it. It was recognised as an essential tool in the ongoing battle against social exclusion. It is hard to recall those times now, but 25 years ago in Ireland the wages for the lowest paid workers were firmly on the floor. Throughout the eighties the gap between the 10% lowest and 10% highest paid workers was greater in Ireland than in any other European country. Despite the birth of the Celtic tiger, the same trend continued into the nineties and a consensus developed that wages needed to increase. Higher wages did not cause the recessions of the 1980s, they did not cause the 2008 crash, and they did not cause the shortage of builders and tradespeople which has meant we now face into the housing catastrophe we have been in for a number of years. Higher wages, despite what some neoliberal thinking might want us to think, certainly does not cause inflation. Better wages do not cause economic turbulence and uncertainty or inflation. On the contrary, if we look at our history, we can see that the times when we enjoyed the most prosperity as a nation were the periods when we deliberately and systematically increased the spending power of the least-well off. This is what the minimum wage does. It raises the boats on all tides. It is often repeated and it is the truth that the people who have the least money spend the most locally, so increasing the wages of those at the bottom of the economic pyramid circulates more money in the local and national economy, driving sustainable community growth and employment. We have seen a roll-back on workers rights with this Government, which is very disappointing. We have seen a roll-back on pensions, on sick pay and on trade union recognition. The most pertinent of all those roll-backs was the move from the minimum wage to the living wage. I am not going to talk about the living wage today. I am going bring attention back to the minimum wage and to the legally binding minimum wage to provide some level of protection to those who need it most. It does not include apprenticeships and interns.

My predecessor in the Labour Party as spokesperson on workers' rights, Deputy Marie Sherlock, introduced a number of Bills during the last Seanad which are currently awaiting Committee Stage, namely, the National Minimum Wage (Inclusion of Apprentices) Bill 2023 and the National Minimum Wage (Payment of Interns) Bill 2022.These Bills address the patently unfair situation of people, often young people, carrying out exactly the same work as someone else but being paid less than the minimum wage. As we all know, the current minimum wage is €13.50 per hour, but I have seen jobs advertised online for apprentice electricians offering as little as €9 per hour, which is even less than the €9.45 per hour rate for under-18s. I know from working in MSLETB and in training centres that it is very hard to get people to start off on the minimum wage. It is fine that people's wages go up when they are in training programmes, but they may have to give up their current job or even have to move somewhere else, because it is often hard to find someone to take you on as an employe. If you are then being paid minimum wage, it is virtually impossible for many. In the middle of a housing crisis, there is a struggle to get people to take up apprenticeships. Young people want to earn. They want to start working in trades but last year, SOLAS reported that around 20% of apprentices failed to complete their apprenticeships, with sub-minimum rates of pay being given much of the blame. This brings me to the difference between an internship and an apprenticeship. I know this from doing unpaid work experience when I was a student. It is virtually impossible to live. You are double-jobbing trying to do an unpaid internship or work experience while having to do another job at the same time. Any good employer would say it does not have to be done like this. If an employer is willing to take someone on, they should at least be paid the minimum wage.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank Senator Cosgrove for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Deputy Peter Burke. The Government is fully committed to supporting workers and to ensuring fair wages for the lowest paid workers in our economy. The national minimum wage increased to €13.50 per hour on 1 January 2025, an increase of over 6%, which is ahead of projected wage growth across the economy. Approximately 195,300 workers directly benefited from this increase.

The Senator highlighted pay for young people. As the current system of youth rates is based on a percentage of the full minimum wage, when the minimum wage increases, these sub-minimum rates also increase, with young people in receipt of these rates seeing a commensurate increase in their wages.

Senator Cosgrove mentioned bogus self-employment. Chapter II of the EU platform work directive tackles the issue of misclassifying persons performing platform work as self-employed. It requires EU countries to set up clear procedures to determine the correct employment status. Work on the transposition of this directive is under way in the Department and will complement existing mechanisms for the determination of the employment status of individuals or groups.

Turning to interns, in March 2024, the European Commission proposed an initiative that includes a proposal for a directive on improving and enforcing working conditions of trainees and combating regular employment relationships disguised as traineeships. The directive includes a common framework of principles and measures to improve and enforce the working conditions of trainees and to combat employment relationships being disguised as traineeships, and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment is leading Ireland’s negotiations on the traineeship directive.

It is important to recognise the important role apprenticeships play in many sectors of our economy. Apprenticeship remains a vital pathway, with registrations up 51% since 2019, supporting national priorities like housing and infrastructure. This clearly shows apprenticeship is a valued option by both career seekers and employers. Minimum wage legislation does not apply to the remuneration of apprentices under the Industrial Training Act 1967 or the Labour Services Act 1987. This reflects the significant investment employers make in training, including mentoring and reduced productivity. The Government is committed to ensuring that employers and future workers continue to value apprenticeship and are incentivised to participate in apprenticeship programmes in all sectors of the economy.

Nessa Cosgrove (Labour)
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I thank the Minister of State for her response. It is great to hear her referring to the EU directive on the minimum wage. I will be continuing to try to bring forward the Bills I mentioned. Particularly in the construction sector at the moment, we need apprentices but it is very difficult for people to work on less than the minimum wage rate. It is true that the sub-minimum rates do increase when the minimum wage rises, but a lot of young people are trying to work and pay rent. I will continue to push this. I thank the Minister of State for her response.

Hildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Senator for raising this issue. I am aware of the importance of advocating for all workers and ensuring that no one worker is overlooked. The Department of enterprise is committed to ensuring that every worker's contribution is recognised and valued. The Department will continue to review the relevant legislation and advocate on behalf of these groups. Work is under way to tackle the issue of bogus self-employment through the platform work directive. The Department will continue to lead Ireland's negotiations on the traineeship directive.

The priority of the apprenticeship system is to ensure that apprenticeships are well equipped to continue to grow and respond to the skills needs of industry, particularly construction as the Senator has mentioned, and to adapt to the challenges facing the workforce from digitisation and climate change. Significant progress has been made towards reaching the 10,000 registrations per year target in the current action plan for apprenticeships, with over 9,300 registrations last year. Substantial work on these matters is under way at national and EU level. I will keep the Senator apprised of the work and developments on the issue.