Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

156. To ask the Minister for Finance the discussions his Department has had with suppliers or service contractors to his Department or to agencies of his Department to ensure that employees of such suppliers and contractors are paid the living wage of €11.50 per hour; the cost of implementing this wage for these employees; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [24176/16]

Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

In response to the Deputy's query, it is important that Ireland's statutory National Minimum Wage and the Living Wage concept are not merged together . The Living Wage is a voluntary societal initiative centred on the social, business and economic case to ensure that, wherever it can be afforded, employers will pay a rate of pay that provides an income that is sufficient to meet an individual's basic needs, such as housing, food, clothing, transport and healthcare.  The Living Wage is voluntary and has no legislative basis and is therefore not a statutory entitlement and cannot be imposed on suppliers or contractors.

It is different to the National Minimum Wage which is a statutory entitlement and has a legislative basis. The previous Government established the Low Pay Commission to annually assess the appropriate level of the National Minimum Wage. The national minimum hourly rate of pay increased to €9.15 per hour on January 1st this year following Government acceptance of the Low Pay Commission recommendation of July 2015 to increase the rate from €8.65 per hour. My colleague, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O'Connor presented the Low Pay Commission's recommendations from its second report at cabinet this week. The commission has recommended a further increase in the national minimum wage to €9.25 per hour. This recommendation will be considered in detail in the context of Budget 2017 and in line with the commitment in the Programme for a Partnership Government to increase the national minimum wage to €10.50 by 2020.

Separately, wage rates and other conditions of employment are provided for in Employment Regulation Orders for the Contract Cleaning and Security sectors. These statutory Orders came into effect on October 1st 2015 and provide for minimum rates in excess of the National Minimum Wage, with €10.75 per hour payable to workers in the Security sector and €9.75 per hour payable to workers in the Contract Cleaning sector.

Statutory minimum rates of pay may also be supplemented by social transfers such as Child Benefit, Family Income Supplement or health, education or housing assistance payments where the need arises and to reflect family circumstances.

My Department has not had any discussions with suppliers or service contractors in relation to the Living Wage.  However, I can confirm that my Department adheres to all appropriate current wage legislation.