Ireland has been ranked third in a global Human Development Index by the United Nations Development Programme, which warns that the world is now on “the crest of a wave of inequality”.

The Government has rejected criticism that new laws being drawn up regarding employee tips will fail to stop businesses denying their employees tips.

The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection is hoping to introduce new measures in relation to tips and gratuities.

There were 24,500 people earning less than the minimum wage at the end of last year, according to the Central Statistics Office.

Raising the minimum wage closed the hourly pay gap between high and low earners, but had no strong impact on household incomes, according to a new report.

Boosting the income-earning capacity of the lower paid through enhancing skills and promoting the creation of enterprises is the way to go, writes Kyran Fitzgerald

A quarter of employees earning the minimum wage or under have worked for their employer for four years or more.

The Low Pay Commission has recommended abolishing training rates of pay and say rates of pay for youth should be graded by age until they achieve the level of the national minimum wage.

A performance and oversight board to monitor the HSE should be in place next year once the necessary legislation is in place, according to the health minister.

Business group Isme has upped the heat in the row over a raise in the minimum wage, saying it wants three employer representatives on the Low Pay Commission to step down as their membership was “now futile”.

A recommended 10c increase in the national minimum wage — outlined to government yesterday and due to be considered as part of the October Budget package — has been widely-slammed as being anti-business and potentially damaging to Ireland’s competitiveness.

An unpublished “minority” report by a third of the Low Pay Commission recommended a “significantly higher” minimum wage hike than the 10c increase that has been announced. 

Dozens of judges appointed since 2012 are set to receive near €20,000 pay rises over the coming years under new staggered salary hikes plans.

New plans to increase the minimum wage by just 10c will fail to lift struggling families out of poverty and mean initial programme for government ambitions to address sub-standard salaries will not now be met until 2029.

Labour leader Joan Burton has promised the minimum wage would rise by a further €2 over four years, if her party is returned to power, and dismissed claims such a move could threaten the economy.

The Low Pay Commission is to investigate whether it is appropriate for young people to continue to be paid a lower minimum wage than the rest of the workforce simply because of their age.

Labour TDs have hailed a 50c increase in the minimum wage as a major victory, despite trade unions pushing for a bigger boost to €10 an hour.

The Government’s competitiveness watchdog yesterday warned the bedrock of the country’s recent economic revival was under threat, on the same day Ireland’s mantle as Europe’s fastest growing economy was further cemented by "spectacular" growth figures.

The competitiveness underpinning Ireland’s economic growth — which has seen more people return to work — is under threat from a range of factors that need to be urgently addressed.

Workers who were exploited by their employers missed out on almost €900,000 in wages last year, according to an employment rights watchdog.

This week, the Low Pay Commission recommended that the National Minimum Wage be increased by 50c to €9.15 per hour — a rise of 5.8%.

Wage increases for the lower paid have been flagged for the new year, with more than 122,500 workers set to benefit after the Government indicated that it will back a recommendation by the Low Pay Commission.

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton has said that says the proposed 50c per hour hike in the minimum wage is a balanced compromise.

The Government is facing a backlash over leaked plans to raise the minimum wage by 50 cent, with workers warning it has not gone far enough and business groups claiming the increase will repeat the “short-sighted mistakes that led to the crisis”.

A targeted tax credit for firms employing fewer than 10 people could create 80,000 new jobs at no net cost to the exchequer and reduce the current unemployment rate to 6%.

More than three-quarters of the public support setting a ‘living wage’ as the country’s minimum wage level, according to an opinion poll.

The Government will set a new minimum wage before the budget.

Wage control, it seems, like much in Ireland, is for the little people, writes Brian Lucey. 

One of the leading mouthpieces for the small business community has called for a three-year minimum wage freeze to allow SMEs more time to continue their recovery and gain further certainty on labour costs.

The creation of a living wage — above the minimum wage — is set to come on the national agenda, the head of the Low Pay Commission told Oireachtas members.

Dunnes Stores workers set to strike over working contracts have been backed by Enda Kenny.

Junior employment minister Ged Nash has admitted there “may well” be an expectation among those earning the minimum wage that it should be increased, but employers are warning any rise will hit competitiveness and cost jobs.

THE principle of having a minimum wage that can allow low-paid workers live with dignity is one of the most hotly contested interfaces between business and the ideas of human dignity and social equity.

It has been highlighted in stark fashion in recent weeks just how many jobless households there are in the country, writes Jim Power

The national minimum wage in the UK should be increased by 20p an hour to £6.70, the Low Pay Commission is recommending.

The Government is to spend €1.6bn next year to provide 300,000 additional work and training places under its Pathways to Work strategy.