Housing Crisis Results In Increase Of Living Wage Rate

Ireland's Living Wage rate is to increase by 40c to €12.30p/h, the Living Wage Technical Group (LWTG) has announced.

The LWTG said that the current housing crisis, and associated increases in rent levels, continues to be the main driver of the wage rate increasing. The increase has been driven by changes in the cost of living and changes in the taxation system.

Welcoming the new rate, Sinn Féin TD Maurice Quinlivan said:

"Sinn Féin fully support the concept of the Living Wage, and we recently launched our own party's proposals on how we intend to introduce the Living Wage when we are in government.

"The current Minimum Wage is simply too low, and it does not take into account the reality of the high cost of living in Ireland.

"We welcome the Living Wage Technical Group's assessment that the Living Wage should now stand at €12.30 p/h, as this increase on the previous rate reflects the high cost of living people on low wages are now facing.

"This government have left low paid workers behind and will not even achieve their own self-imposed target of €10.50 p/h, as set out in their Programme for a Partnership Government.

"We believe workers deserve to be paid fairly for their hard work, and we think it’s shameful that many workers and their families are living in poverty due to low pay.

"However, we fully understand that not every business will be able to pay the Living Wage of €12.30 p/h, and we have taken account for that in our plans.

"In our proposals launched last week, we included a provision that the New Living Wage Act would include an exemption for those financially vulnerable businesses who can show they genuinely cannot afford this transition to the Living Wage.

"This exemption will safeguard businesses and jobs in those SMEs who find themselves in a difficult financial position.

"Sinn Féin is the only Irish political party with a credible proposal on how to introduce the Living Wage, and we want Ireland to become the first state in the world to introduce a Living Wage on a legislative basis.

"Proper wages and the eradication of precarious working practices must be the essential foundations of economic growth and productivity."

(MH/JG)