Labour TD Ged Nash, who was responsible for the establishment of the Low Pay Commission back in 2015, has welcomed the Commission’s recent move to examine the case for a Living Wage.
“It was always my ambition when setting up the Commission in 2015 that the minimum wage would be converted to a real living wage so work would always pay,” Deputy Nash said.
“The Commission, apart from recommending the rate of the minimum wage every year, is an important research body on low pay.
“The work it has now been asked to carry out will, I hope, see the move towards a Living Wage on the near horizon.”
Explaining the difference between the Minimum Wage and the Living Wage, Deputy Nash said:
“The minimum wage is the statutory floor beneath which nobody is allowed to fall, it stands at €10.20. The Living Wage is an independently assessed hourly rate of pay for a full time worker that would permit every worker to have a minimum acceptable standard of living. It currently comes in at €12.30 an hour.
“Pre-pandemic we spent hundreds of millions subsiding low paid work to bring citizens up to a minimum income level.
“If decent pay was at the heart of our society, then this money could be better spent on housing and on our health service.
“Work should always pay and the dignity of work should be respected. That’s why a living wage is so important from an economic and social cohesion perspective.
“If we are serious about respecting the role of the workers who kept things going right through the darkest days of Covid 19 our society should resolve to pay them properly.”
