Minimum wage should be increased over time, says Nash

The national minimum wage should be progressively increased over time, Minister of State for business and employment Ged Nash has said.

However, Mr Nash he said any increases should only come about where economic and labour market conditions allowed.

The Labour Party TD said he would not take any decisions that would impact on the capacity of businesses to create jobs.

Mr Nash invited people from worker and employer backgrounds, civil society groups and labour market experts to apply for membership of the Government's new Low Pay Commission.

The nine-member commission will advise the Government, using evidence-based research, on the appropriate rate of the national minimum wage.

The current rate of the national minimum wage is €8.65 per hour.

Mr Nash said there had been no meaningful increase in the national minimum wage rate since 2007.

He noted the current Government had in 2011 reversed a €1 cut in the national minimum wage put in place in the dying days of the previous Fianna Fáil/ Green administration.

The Minister denied the establishment of the new commission represented a return to social partnership. He said he wanted the members of the new boday “to leave the boardroom” and go out and talk to employers and those who have to live on the minimum wage.

“Work should always pay. But I am also conscious of the need to balance a basic statutory minimum pay rate that is fair, with one that is sustainable and which allows employers to continue to create quality jobs.”

Mr Nash said he hoped the new commission would hold its first meeting in February and that it would present its first report to him in the summer.

He said a decision on increasing the national minimum wage would, ultimately, be one for the Government and the Oireachtas to take. However, he said there would be no point in establishing a Low Pay Commission "if we decide that all its recommendations are unacceptable".

Mr Nash said reports and recommendations submitted by the new commission would be published.

Members of the new commission will receive fees of €11,500 per year while the independent chairman of the body will be paid €20,000.