Delighted by minimum-wage boost

MICHAEL Glynn, 19, is a secondyear journalism student at NUI Galway. The aspiring reporter has a weekly income of between €120 and €150 a week. His part-time job at Galway’s Supermac’s is his main source of income.

He was encouraged to hear that the minimum wage is set to increase by 50c to €9.15.

Speaking about his reaction to Budget 2016, Mr Glynn said: ‘My initial reaction is that I am delighted that the minimum wage has risen. 50 cent can go a long way for any worker; I imagine it will allow me to start putting some money away each week now.’

Originally from Loughrea, Co. Galway, the 19-year-old moved into the city for college and began paying rent. He told the Mail: ‘It’s not as expensive as other cities but it’s still rent. My monthly rent is €268 a month which works out at about €67 a week.

‘My parents pay for my rent and I take care of the bills myself.’

His monthly ESB, when split between his housemates, usually comes in at €16 and a further €15 a month for internet in the house.

Speaking about the rest of his family, the NUIG student said: ‘My sister is doing a post-grad in NUIG also i n psychology but she commutes from Loughrea.’

Michael said he’s not fully sure what the Budget will mean for his family but his mother works as a primary school teacher and his father is a filmmaker.

‘I’m not sure exactly what reliefs they would get but I hope there is something in the Budget that helps them out a bit though,’ he said.

Mr Glynn added: ‘I started working full-time last May to support myself living in the city for the summer and kept the job on part-time to help with all the bills that come in with college. I had to move into cheaper accommodation as a result of this and cut back on my own spending.’

The 19-year-old would usually smoke two packets of tobacco a week but told the Mail he will now be rethinking this weekly cost with the 50c increase to a pack of cigarettes now sitting at €10.50 from midnight. He said: ‘Overall it’s not the end of the world, it might even cause some people to smoke less, which is only a good thing.’

Overall, he feels Budget 2016 has been beneficial to him as it helps him save.