Government’s living wage aspirations ‘lack ambition’

The Government has “set a course to fail spectacularly” on its commitments on job security, the gender pay gap, and in-work poverty, the country’s largest public sector union claims.

At Impact’s annual conference in Killarney, national secretary Angela Kirk told delegates that while improvements to the national minimum wage are welcome, the Government’s “meagre” minimum wage target of €10.50 per hour over the next five years falls well short of a living wage.

“The target the Government has set itself — with the endorsement of a considerable chunk of the Opposition — lacks ambition; throws the work of the Low Pay Commission into suspended animation; continues to expose younger workers to sub-minima rates of pay; and tolerates the potential displacement of minimum-wage workers for those paid at even lower rates,” she said.