Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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318. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection if she will outline, in view of the Low Pay Commission's recommendation that the hourly rate of the national minimum wage should rise to €12.70 in 2024, the estimated full-year cost of adjusting PRSI rates to avoid a cliff edge for full-time workers on the national minimum wage and employers in terms of any impact on them; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [43508/23]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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At the time of writing, the Low Pay Commission's 2023 report has yet to be published and no Government decision has been made on increasing the national minimum wage in 2024.

However, if the national minimum wage were to increase from €11.30 to €12.70 per hour in 2024, the estimated additional full-year cost of adjusting the employer PRSI threshold from €441 to €496 per week to avoid the impact on employers from the national minimum wage increase is €53.6 million.

It should be noted that this cost would be somewhat offset by the increased employee and employer PRSI payable on the higher hourly national minimum wage of €12.70 per hour.

Full time workers on the national minimum wage would not be impacted in the same regard as employers as such workers already pay the full 4% employee (class A) PRSI rate and will continue to do so, albeit on the higher hourly wage.

This estimate does not take into account any possible changes in employer behaviour arising from an increase in the national minimum wage.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.