SFA rejects 13% rise in minimum wage

THE proposal to increase the national minimum wage by 13% was opposed yesterday by the Small Firms Association (SFA).

Director of the SFA, Patricia Callan said: “The proposal will affect 5.2% of the workforce and will directly cost small business over €200 million, without any increase in output.”

Ms Callan said the competitiveness of small businesses should not be “undermined by unrealistic labour cost increases”.