Labour would increase the minimum wage from €9.15 to €11.30 on a phased basis over the lifetime of the next Government if returned to power, Tánaiste Joan Burton has said.
Launching her party’s plan for investment in skills and a “living wage”, Ms Burton said Labour would provide 100,000 free part-time education places and 50,000 apprenticeship and traineeship places.
“Apprenticeships really dropped off the radar of the Irish jobs system as the boom got boomier,” she said.
In response to media questions, Ms Burton said she was not convinced employers’ bodies would object to Labour’s minimum wage proposals.
Minister for Business and Employment Ged Nash said there was a very strong business case for employers paying the living wage. He said good employers invested in their staff.
“We will increase the minimum wage until it’s pegged at 60 per cent of median earnings, that’s around €11.30 per hour in today’s terms,” he said.
Mr Nash said minimum wage workers now earned €3,000 more than in 2011.
“Labour’s vision isn’t just for full employment but for fair employment... a good job deserves a decent wage, one that provides for a decent standard of living without having to depend excessively on State supports.”
He said the party would not permit abusive terms of conditions of employment, low pay, insecure hours or “enforced bogus self-employment” being imposed on “vulnerable” workers.
Mr Nash said the formation of the National Minimum Wage Commission represented a “very important institutional change” in Irish society and would be a “bulwark” against any future Government’s attempt to “target low paid workers”.
The unveiling of the “Launching a skills revolution” document took place in Dublin at the offices of Cluid Housing, which assists people who cannot afford to buy their own home or pay for rented accommodation.
The document also commits Labour to reducing the €3,000 student contribution fee by €500.
Four days before the last general election, Labour’s Ruairí Quinn signed a Union of Students in Ireland (USI) pledge not to increase the third-level student contribution. The promise was reneged on.
Asked if she would like to see student fees scrapped, Ms Burton said: “It’s too early to call that now, being honest, because we have an economic recovery to sustain and grow, but we will certainly try to improve the situation for students.”
The party hoped to see the fee capped at €2,500 by the end of 2017, she said.
“As I’ve said in relation to anything else that we’ve indicated, that’s subject to resources and it’s subject to the economic assumptions that we’ve made, based on the information from the Department of Finance, operating.”
