Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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18. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation if he will provide a commitment that this Government will ensure that the 24,000 workers in the early childhood education sector will be included in the low pay commission. [7762/15]

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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The establishment of a Low Pay Commission is one of the key commitments in the Statement of Government Priorities agreed in July last.

The General Scheme of the National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Bill was approved by Government in January. The General Scheme, together with a Regulatory Impact Assessment, has been published on my Department's website and forwarded to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation for pre-legislative scrutiny.

The principal function of the Low Pay Commission will be, on an annual basis, to examine and make recommendations to the Minister of the day on the national minimum wage, with a view to securing that the national minimum wage, where adjusted, is adjusted incrementally having had regard to changes in earnings, productivity, overall competitiveness and the likely impact any adjustment will have on employment and unemployment levels.

Alongside examining the National Minimum Wage, the Low Pay Commission will also be tasked with examining matters related generally to the functions of the Commission under the Act. This work programme will be agreed by Government and presented to the Commission in February of each year.

In discharging its functions, the Commission will be required to ensure that any advice or recommendations it makes to Government is evidence-based; utilising agreed data, carrying out research and consultations with employers, workers and their representatives and taking written and oral evidence from a wide range of organisations. This is to ensure that any suggested changes to the National Minimum Wage have minimum adverse impact on employment and competitiveness.

In addition, the Commission will be asked to consult with employers and workers who are directly affected by the National Minimum. The Commission has already commenced its work in this regard and has already placed notices in national newspapers seeking submissions on the issue. In this context, representatives of workers and employers in the early childhood education sector have an opportunity to make their views on the issue known to the Commission.

The Commission is expected to submit its first report by the middle of July.