Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 10 February 2022
16. Deputy Maurice Quinlivan asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment the progress that has been made on the Programme for Government commitment to advance a living wage over the lifetime of the Government; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [7044/22]
View answerI have spoken before about how the pandemic has caused many of us to reconsider and re-evaluate what an essential worker is. We now understand that it is a much broader group of workers than people would have originally described, many of whom are on low pay and in the private sector.
The Government has been clear that a legacy of the pandemic must be better pay, terms and conditions for everyone, but particularly for those on low pay. We are committed, therefore, to honouring the Government commitment to progressing to a living wage over the lifetime of this Government. In doing so, we need to recognise that many businesses have been badly affected by the pandemic and are struggling to pay existing wages. We need to make sure that we proceed in a way that does not cause jobs to be lost in terms of the numbers of people employed, or would see employees having their hours cut. To do so would be counterproductive.
In 2021, I asked the Low Pay Commission to examine the Programme for Government commitment to progress to a living wage over the lifetime of the Government and to make recommendations on the best approach to achieving this commitment.
Following this request, the Low Pay Commission commissioned a team of researchers at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth to conduct research on the living wage.
This research was to consider the policy, social and economic implications of a move to a living wage and the process by which Ireland could progress towards it. The research was to examine international evidence on living wages, examining different calculation methods, examining the policy implications and outlining options for moving to a living wage in Ireland.
I understand that in January of this year, the Low Pay Commission received the Living Wage supporting research report from the researchers at the National University of Ireland, Maynooth. The Low Pay Commission is currently evaluating this research. The Commission is meeting with experts and stakeholders in this area, such as the Eurofound, the UK Low Pay Commission, business and employer representatives and representatives of the Living Wage Technical Group.
I expect to receive the Low Pay Commission’s report and recommendations when the analysis is complete and I expect that to be next month. The Government will respond to these recommendations in due course and we will publish the Commission's report, and the associated supporting research.
