Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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569. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her plans to widen the remit of the Low Pay Commission and to task it to examine CEO pay, specifically, the highest and lowest paid CEOs and the median and average pay of CEOs; if she will undertake a comparison to that of employees and workers in this regard and include incentives additional to pay; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [14897/17]

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The Low Pay Commission was established through the National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Act 2015.  Its principal function is, once each year, to examine the national minimum hourly rate of pay and to make a recommendation to the Minister respecting the rate, ensuring that all decisions are evidence-based, fair and sustainable, and do not create significant adverse consequences for employment or competitiveness.

The National Minimum Wage (Low Pay Commission) Act 2015 does empower the Minister to request the Low Pay Commission to examine and report it views and make recommendations beyond its core remit of setting the national minimum wage. Such requests must be made to the Commission before the end of February each year and form part of the Commission’s work programme.

Requests in this context were made to the Commission in 2016 in order to obtain a better understanding of the impact of the national minimum wage on younger people and to establish the reasons behind the preponderance of women on the national minimum wage. The Commission reported on these matters in October 2016.

The Commission’s work programme for 2017 is already in place and as well as its core work on examining the appropriate minimum wage for 2018, the Commission is also reviewing the board and lodging rates that are provided for in the National Minimum Wage Act 2000. It is due to report on this issue by the end of April. The Commission has also been asked to review the length of time spent on the national minimum wage and whether it is a stepping stone to higher pay for people as they get older and the extent to which lack of progression links to poverty/welfare traps.

In relation to the specific issue of CEO pay, I am aware of the Irish Congress of Trade Union’s report Because We’re Worth It The Truth about CEO Pay in Ireland.

In general, executive remuneration is a private contractual matter between a company’s board of directors and the CEO.  As such it would not fall within the remit of the Low Pay Commission and I have no plans to make any changes in this regard.

The UK Government, in its recent Green Paper on Corporate Governance Reform sets out proposals for the mandatory publishing of pay ratios. The Irish Stock Exchange requires listed Irish companies to conform to the UK Corporate Governance Code and its Irish Corporate Governance annex on a principle of comply or explain.

Additionally, at EU level, a new Shareholder Rights Directive is expected to be adopted shortly. The Directive’s ambition is to ensure greater transparency and encourage greater shareholder involvement in the long term investments of public limited companies. An aspect of this approach is to ensure greater shareholder involvement in determining the pay of the company directors.