Women account for more than 60 per cent of those on the minimum wage, the Dáil heard during debate on a Labour Party motion on the protection of workers’ rights.
Labour’s Jan O’Sullivan said that despite the fight for equal pay for equal work, some sectors which had a predominantly female workforce “have appallingly low rates of pay”. They include childcare, shop work and cleaning.
Increases in the minimum wage and the new agreement for contract cleaners were welcome improvements, but “we need to move to a situation where the minimum wage rises further to reach 60 per cent of median earnings, and where a living wage of €11.50 per hour applies throughout the public sector”.
The Limerick TD said women working in childcare were among those on the lowest incomes.
She believed tax breaks to assist parents with childcare costs “would have done nothing to make childcare more affordable, better quality across the board or better paid”. Direct support for the sector was the best option.
The Labour motion included calls for legislation that would end the abuse of “if- and-when” contracts, combat bogus self-employment, prevent unilateral pay reductions, protect workers in “informal” insolvencies and collective redundancies and ensure freelance workers have the right to collective bargaining.
Opening the debate, Labour leader Brendan Howlin said there were "too many women now working in jobs that are poorly paid, insecure and outside or at the very edge of employment protection laws".
He warned that the Government “must not preside over an economic recovery fuelled by a ruthless race to the bottom or the sacrifice of employment rights that are the mark of a decent and progressive society”.
He said “we are not a nation of Luddites” but have a small and open economy that responds to the needs of the global marketplace.
“We recognise there are sectors in the economy that place a premium on flexibility in the workplace.” However, he stressed “the basic requirements for a decent working life must be maintained”.
Minister for Jobs Mary Mitchell O’Connor said the low-pay commission on the national minimum wage was due to report in July.
“I look forward to responding to any recommendation of the low-pay commission to increase the minimum wage as part of Budget 2017.’’
She said the commission would also examine why 65 per cent of those on the minimum wage were women.
She said there had been the most significant reform in the State’s history of the workplace relations system.
