Employers dismissed as "indefensible" yesterday a call by union leaders for the minimum wage to be increased by 25 per cent.
In a submission to the Labour Court, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said an increase in the wage from €7 to €8.75 an hour would help fuel economic growth and to close the gap between rich and poor.
However, the Small Firms Association responded that the ICTU call was "hard to understand and impossible to justify".
The court is currently reviewing the minimum wage and, under the terms of the national pay deal agreed last summer, is to recommend a new rate to apply from May 1st.
In its submission, the ICTU said Ireland would require large numbers of migrant workers to sustain economic growth. "It is vital that the minimum wage be set at a level that is sufficiently attractive to such prospective workers," it said.
It said that the Minimum Wage Commission had recommended that the wage be set at "around two-thirds of median earnings".
However, this target had never been reached and, since its introduction in April 2000, the value of the minimum wage had "declined significantly".
Mr Pat Delaney, director of the Small Firms Association, said it saw no justification for an increase in the wage.
He said Government policy should be directed to ensuring that low-paid workers paid no tax, rather than increasing production costs which then found expression in price rises.