Mairéad Farrell (Galway West, Sinn Fein)
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585.To ask the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the cost of immediately raising sub-minimum pay for under 20s to the minimum wage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [33139/24]

Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael)
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As the Deputy is aware, in February 2022, the Low Pay Commission was asked by the then Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to examine the issues around retaining or removing the sub-minimum youth rates of the National Minimum Wage and to make recommendations on the subject.

To inform its work, the Low Pay Commission asked the ESRI to conduct background research on this issue under the terms of the LPC-ESRI Research Partnership Agreement. This report, “Sub-minimum Wages in Ireland”, examined the incidence of sub-minimum employment and was published in November 2023.

Following consideration of the ESRI report, stakeholder engagement, and extensive deliberation, the Low Pay Commission submitted their report and recommendations on sub-minimum rates of the national minimum wage..

I published the Low Pay Commission’s report last month.

I have committed to commissioning an economic impact assessment of the Low Pay Commission’s recommendations.

The economic impact assessment will model the cost and impact of making changes to youth rates on firms of different sizes and in different sectors. It will also consider the likely changes to the National Minimum Wage given the Government’s decision to progress to a National Minimum Wage set at 60 per cent of the median wage.

Terms of reference for this economic impact assessment are being finalised.