Nash wants rise to €10.55

The Labour Party has told the Low Pay Commission that the National Minimum Wage for 2019 should be € 10.55 per hour this year, rising to € 11.25 in 2020.

The current rate is € 9.80 an hour.

The call was made in a submission by the Party’s Employment spokesperson Senator Ged Nash to the Low Pay Commission.

He explained; “Ireland has a problem with low pay with 22.5% of all workers (one of the highest proportions in the EU or OECD) in low paid employment.

“Work should always pay but the stark reality is that too many working families are reliant on welfare top-ups to make ends meet.

“The overall policy purpose of the National Minimum Wage should be to raise the incomes of workers so that no full-time worker is in what’s considered to be low paid employment.

“In June 2000, the first statutory NMW rate was introduced by then Minister Mary Harney and was set at a level that corresponded to approximately two-thirds of the median average income. Eurostat defines ‘low pay’ as pay below twothirds of median earnings.

“The NMW (currently €9.80/ hour) has failed to keep up with rises in median average rates.