Nash accuses Government of “shameful posturing” as doubt cast over planned minimum wage rise
Nash accuses Government of “shameful posturing” as doubt cast over planned minimum wage rise - The Labour Party
Labour TD Ged Nash who set up the Low Pay Commission in 2015 has accused the government of “shameful posturing” on the National Minimum Wage as media reports suggest the government plans to reject the Commission’s recommendation, which was made in July, to increase the hourly minimum wage rate by 0.79 cents in 2027.
Deputy Nash said;
“The Low Pay Commission was set up by Labour as a statutory body made up of experts and representatives with experience of business and those who represent working people, principally to take an evidence-based approach to the making of the national minimum wage and to review it on an annual basis.
“The 2015 legislation on which the LPC was founded explicitly requires this expert body to take account of employment levels, productivity, competitiveness, the cost of living and other important economic factors when making it’s annual recommendation to the Minister for Enterprise, who usually makes a decision on any new rate for the minimum wage, on Budget Day.
“Their annual reports on the minimum wage rate, the research they carry out on pay, and their consultation processes are extensive and valuable.
“Commentary from government backbenchers and unnamed Ministers who really should know better seeks to give the impression that a figure is plucked out of thin air with no reference to any evidence or research whatsoever. This could not be further from the truth.
“I can only conclude that the reported wrangling going on in government over a modest, incremental rise in the wage floor beneath which no worker in Ireland is allowed to fall, is purely ideological because it’s certainly not based on evidence.
“If this small increase is prevented from going ahead, it will represent a line in the sand and a very hostile act against all working people in Ireland, proving once again that this government’s commitment to making work pay is nothing but empty and vacuous sloganeering.
“Remember, this is a government that has already kicked the move to a Living Wage out by at least another year, and left PAYE workers high and dry in last year’s Budget.
“The legislation I developed and that was passed in 2015 is clear. If a Minister decides they will not accept the recommendation of the Commission on the rate of the National Minimum Wage, or if they decide to sign an Order making a rate different to that recommended by the LPC, they are required by the law to lay a statement before both Houses of the Oireachtas to explain why. This isn’t a position any Minister should want to find themselves in.”