Martin Ferris (Kerry North, Sinn Fein)
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Question 115: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation the way he intends to enlarge the scope of the inability to pay clause; the limits he intends to set on the number of times this clause can be invoked; the way this will affect the responsibility of employers to pay minimum rates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2644/11]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Section 41 of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 makes provision for an employer to apply to the Labour Court for a once-off time limited exemption from the requirement to pay the minimum rate. The EU-IMF Programme of Financial Support for Ireland, published on 1 December 2010, includes a commitment to enlarge the scope of the inability pay provision in the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, permitting firms to invoke this clause more than once. The precise details of how this can best be addressed, including relevant legislative adjustments, will be the subject of consultation with the European Commission.