Meagre rise in minimum wage is an effective pay cut for low paid workers

• New Enterprise Minister Coveney must prioritise pathway to Living Wage 

In advance of the Minimum Wage increasing to €11.30 per hour on January 1st, Labour employment spokesperson Marie Sherlock said the increase amounts to a real cut in wages for the lowest paid in the economy as we continue to face near double digit inflation.

Senator Sherlock said the newly appointed Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney must deliver a pay rise for all workers in Ireland in 2023, and prepare a pathway to transition from the Minimum to the Living Wage.

Senator Sherlock said:

“Over three months after the emergency budget, minimum wage workers will finally receive an increase in pay. Yet with the cost of everyday essentials steadily rising over the past year, this increase is effectively a pay cut. Workers’ productivity has stayed the same, yet prices of food, heating, rent, childcare and all essentials continue to skyrocket.

“It just goes to show, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil have no real understanding of the enormous challenges low wage workers are facing right now. Wage rises are a critical part of what is needed to resolve the current cost of living crisis for workers. Yet the value of the increase means that workers in 2023 will be worse off, in real terms, than they were in 2022.

“Our young workers, many of whom kept the shelves stacked over the Christmas rush and who will be working over the New Year bank holiday, still face age discrimination in the application of the national minimum wage. In September, I called on the then Minister for Enterprise Leo Varadkar to end this discrimination, yet in 2023, workers under the age of 20 will still not be legally entitled to the full minimum wage. This needs to end - all workers regardless of age should be entitled to the full minimum wage.

“Minister Coveney must prioritise a pathway to the Living Wage without any further delay. The reality is that the next Government will not have a choice - they’ll have to do it to comply with the Adequate Minimum Wage Directive agreed by the EU Council in November. Minister Coveney can’t follow in his predecessors footpath and keep kicking the can down the road. It is as simple as that."