Cut in minimum wage criticised

The Government's plan to cut the minimum wage by €1 or 12% to €7.65 has come in for criticism.

In a joint statement, MANDATE trade union and the Migrant Rights Centre Ireland (MRCI) expressed their opposition to the proposed ‘double whammy’ on low-paid workers consisting of the reduction in minimum wage and the widening of the tax net.

“Cutting the wages of the lowest-paid workers will only degrade working conditions and lead to a decrease in productivity, damage consumer spending, and will place those with the lowest incomes, including migrant workers, in an impossible situation," said MRCI Director Siobhan O’Donoghue.

"This is all the more pointless when we know that it is the lower-wage earners who spend proportionately more.”

"The time has come for this Government and its successor to implement an economic strategy that shares the pain proportionately and equally – unfortunately the four-year plan does not do this,” said MANDATE General Secretary John Douglas.