Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein)
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44. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on the assertion on page 3 of the Summer Economic Statement that the Government will improve the take home pay of families on low incomes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [22824/16]

Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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This Government is committed to a ensuring that the fruits of economic recovery will be used to reduce inequality and poverty, to a just and fair society and a more inclusive prosperity. The amount a worker is paid will go a long way towards achieving this. In that regard the Low Pay Commission has been tasked with, on an annual basis, examining and making recommendations on the national minimum wage. The national minimum hourly rate of pay increased to €9.15 per hour on January 1 this year following Government acceptance of the Low Pay Commission recommendation of July 2015 to increase the rate from €8.65 per hour.

The Commission’s second report on the national minimum wage was submitted to Government yesterday and the recommendation made by the Commission that the national minimum hourly rate be increased by 10 cents to €9.25 will be considered by Government in the context of Budget 2017.

The Programme for Partnership Government contains a commitment to develop a new Working Family Payment targeted at low-income families. I am informed that over the course of the next six months, my colleague the Minister for Social Protection will develop proposals for this new payment.

I am also informed that in doing so, the Minister will be guided by two principles. Firstly, that the payment should ensure that work pays and that no family is better off on welfare than at work, and secondly, and of equal importance, that the payment has a positive effect on child poverty.

As the deputy will appreciate, changes to the tax system can also have a significant impact on take home pay but these are a matter for my colleague the Minister for Finance.