Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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206. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection her plans to abolish the sub-minimum rate of the minimum wage in view of its discriminatory impact on the estimated 10,000 young persons on these reduced rates; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44162/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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In October 2016 the Low Pay Commission submitted its report on the sub-minima rates of the National Minimum Wage Act 2000, which included a study by the ESRI on the usage of sub-minima rates both in Ireland and internationally. The ESRI found that sub-minima rates of a similar nature are in use in a significant number of OECD countries. The Commission concluded that incidence of usage of the sub-minima rates in Ireland is extremely low, with typically less than 0.5% of employees impacted by either the youth or trainee rates. The report also indicated that there is no evidence of significant abuse when it comes to the application of sub-minima rates.

Given that the remit of the Low Pay Commission is to make its recommendations using an evidence-based approach, the Commission had agreed with the Central Statistics Office (CSO) in early 2016 the inclusion, on a pilot basis, of a specific question on the national minimum wage, and the use of sub-minima rates, in the CSO’s Quarterly National Household Survey (QNHS) series. The Commission indicated in its 2016 report that it would await the availability of the up-to-date data on usage of the rates from the CSO before making any recommendation in relation to sub-minima rates.

The QNHS results from the pilot question for 2016 are now available, and I understand that the Low Pay Commission intends to submit its recommendations to me in a supplementary report before the end of the year. The question of whether a change in the current system might be warranted or desirable will be considered further in light of the Commission’s recommendations.