The government is rolling back on promises made to the lowest-paid workers.
In 2022, they announced they would align the Minimum Wage with the Living Wage by 2026.
The Living Wage at the moment is set at €14.80 and is defined as the ‘minimum accepted standard of living’.
The Minimum Wage currently falls below this and comes in at €12.70 an hour, which is two euros less.
But there are loopholes for employers. If you are aged 19, you are only entitled to €11.43 an hour. If you are aged 18, it is even lower at €10.16.
But IBEC, the bosses’ organization, have run a major lobbying campaign and the government is listening to them.
It wants to scrap its promise to raise the minimum wage to the equivalent of €14.80 by 2026.
And it even wants to stop increases in sick leave. Next year these were meant to increase to seven days and then 10 days a year in 2026.
This is wrong and should be vigorously opposed. Instead of a rollback, we need to end the discrimination against young people and bring everyone up to the Living Wage of €14. 80 an hour.
