Burton: Time is right for wage increases

The Social Protection Minister Joan Burton has said that wages have to rise, as part of the economic recovery.

Minister Burton has been advocating the concept of a "living wage" - pay for people at a higher rate than the current minimum wage - this week.

Speaking to the Labour Party conference in Killarney today, 1,000 days since Labour decided to enter Government - she' went gone further and said the time is now right for wage increases.

She said that the earnings of the middle and working classes would fuel growth.

"In my view, negotiated wage-led growth is the most viable and effective strategy for economic recovery," she said.

Earlier, Public Expenditure Minister Brendan Howlin agreed that legislation that allows him cut wages for the higher paid in the public service should be repealed.

"FEMPI [Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act] is what is says on the tin - and emergency piece of legislation," he said. "And I want to get rid of it just as soon as that emergency is over."

There was one call from a delegate for the Tánaiste to resign because of what he said was Minister Gilmore's failure to deliver on services for the disabled.