A third of workers are earning less than a living wage

Research finds low pay is endemic in Ireland but Small Firms Association said businesses cannot take another rise in the minimum wage

Women make up almost two-thirds of the low-paid, with 29.7% of women below the two-thirds threshold against 16.9% of men.

The Budget must not include another increase in the minimum wage as businesses cope with increases in labour costs in recent years, the Small Firms Association said.

Their call comes as new research shows that low pay is deeply embedded in the Irish labour market, with nearly a third of workers taking home less than the Real Living Wage benchmark of €543.06 net a week.

In their pre-Budget submission, the Small Firms Association (SFA) called on Enterprise Minister Peter Burke to reject the Low Pay Commission's recommended increase in the national minimum wage. They said SFA said the proposed rise must be kept out of Budget 2027 to allow small businesses to cope with labour costs. The commission recommended in July that the rate rise by 79c, or 5.6%, from €14.15 to €14.94 an hour from January 1. Mr Burke is not obliged to accept the recommendation, though no minister has rejected one since the minimum wage was established.

SFA director David Broderick said small business owners were frustrated that any increase would undo a year's work by the Cost of Business Advisory Forum, which produced 63 recommendations aimed at reducing costs on small firms.

"This budget must not include another increase in the national minimum wage," he said. "The minister must reject the proposed increase by the Low Pay Commission to allow small businesses to better cope with ongoing increases in labour-related costs in recent years."

The association said the minimum wage has risen 54.6% since 2016, against cumulative inflation of roughly 25%. It also wants a temporary PRSI rebate targeted at lower-earning workers, and a postponement of the 0.3% PRSI increases due in October and in 2027. Its own survey found 51% of small firms now name rising costs as their single biggest threat.

The call by the SFA comes as a new report found that almost one in four earn below two-thirds of median net weekly earnings, the conventional low-pay measure.

The Working Life on Low Pay report was drawn from the Working in Ireland Survey 2025 and based on interviews with 3,040 workers.

It found that full-time work offers only partial protection, with 21.8% of full-time employees falling below the living wage threshold, and around four in five low-paid workers hold permanent contracts.

Crucially for the budget argument, the report finds that 72.2% of workers with low weekly earnings are already paid above the minimum wage, their earnings held down by short or unpredictable hours rather than the hourly rate. At the same time, 81.3% of those on the minimum wage are low-paid on a weekly basis.

Report co-author Dr Lisa Wilson, senior economist at the Nevin Economic Research Institute, said the Government's commitment to move the minimum wage towards a living wage was "the right one".

"But most of Ireland's low-paid workers are not on the minimum wage," she said. "They are above it, on hours that do not add up to a living wage, in jobs they are prepared to work hard in but that offer little training or development in return."

More than half of all low-paid workers are employed in three sectors dominated by small firms: retail, which accounts for 26.8%, accommodation and food services at 15.5%, and health and social work at 14.6%. Women make up almost two-thirds of the low-paid, with 29.7% of women below the two-thirds threshold against 16.9% of men.

The commission's recommendation would be worth about €19 a week to a worker on 39 hours, and under €10 to someone on 20 hours. Almost one in three low-paid workers report difficulty making ends meet.