Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation when the cut in the minimum wage will be reversed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5884/11]

Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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Question 56: To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation if he has engaged with the retail and hospitality sectors on the issue of the minimum wage; and when he will legislate for the increase in the wage as per the programme for Government. [5787/11]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 53 and 56 together.

There is a commitment in the Programme for Government to reverse the recent cut in the national minimum wage. The national minimum wage was reduced with effect from the 1st February 2011 by order made pursuant to section 11(1) of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, as amended by section 13 of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2010 which required that the Minister, by order, declare a national minimum hourly rate of pay of €7.65. The commitment to reverse the recent cut in the national minimum wage will require primary legislation. To this end, I intend to publish Heads of a Bill to give effect to this commitment before 31 May next.

The wage rates applicable in the retail grocery and hospitality sectors are governed by the Joint Labour Committee system rather than the national minimum wage. In this context, an independent review of the JLC and REA mechanisms was initiated on 8 February 2011 last and is being undertaken jointly by Kevin Duffy, Chairman of the Labour Court acting in an ad hoc capacity and Dr Frank Walsh, School of Economics, UCD, under specific terms of reference. The review is a commitment under the EU/IMF programme, which provided not only for agreement on the terms of reference but also the programme of actions arising. I understand that submissions were received by the review team from representative bodies for the retail grocery and hospitality sectors.

The Terms of Reference for the review provide, inter alia, that the review shall provide an assessment of whether and to what extent the function played by Employment Regulation Orders in ensuring protection of minimum wages and conditions overlaps with that of the statutory national minimum wage system.