Rose Conway-Walsh (Mayo, Sinn Fein)
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139. To ask the Taoiseach the number of employees in the State earning minimum wage; the number of employees in the State earning €1 over minimum wage; the number of employees in the State earning €2 over minimum wage; and the number of employees in the State earning €4 over minimum wage. [31767/25]

Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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The Central Statistics Office (CSO) data source Earnings, Hours and Employment Costs Survey (EHECS) is a survey that collects earnings, labour costs, hours and employment data from enterprises each quarter. The estimates from EHECS are restricted to employments in enterprises with at least 3 employees in NACE Rev. 2 sectors B-S. The figures for this response use Q4 as the reference period for the year.

- In 2022, there were 91,100, or 4.2% of employees earning NMW or less;

- In 2023, there were 90,700, or 4.1% of employees earning NMW or less;

- In 2024, there were 102,200, or 4.5% of employees earning NMW or less;

Timely estimates of employees earning the National Minimum Wage are available from EHECS. However, EHECS only provides statistics at an aggregated enterprise level. Therefore, it is not possible to get disaggregated hourly pay for individuals. This data available from the official source of median hourly pay statistics the Structure of Earnings Survey (SES), with the most recent data available for reference year 2022.

The Structure of Earnings Survey (SES) is a survey of employees in Ireland conducted by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) to provide detailed structural information on earnings and factors influencing earnings. The survey is carried out every four years with the latest results from 2022. It includes both public and private sectors, there are no restrictions on firm size, it includes NACE Rev. 2 sectors B-S and excludes the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector (A). The minimum wage in 2022 was €10.50. The number of employees aged 15 and over by their hourly wage in 2022 is as follows:

- There were 163,385, or 6.8% of employees earning between €11.50 - €12.49;

- There were 142,002, or 5.9% of employees earning between €12.50 - €13.49;

- There were 130.442, or 5.4% of employees earning between €14.50 - €15.49;