Madam, – Ibec’s call for the new minimum wage not to be reversed (Home News, February 8th) should be supported. Any reduction in the minimum wage is a grievous necessity, but it is genuinely necessary.
There is no anti-immigrant agenda, but the simple reality is that our high minimum wage has turned this State into a magnet for lower-paid workers all over Europe. Skilled workers in Poland, for example, are being paid as little as €1.80 an hour. That is why an estimated quarter million Polish workers have made their way to these shores and, although many have returned home, huge numbers of immigrant workers are having a serious impact on our unemployment figures. The situation is not sustainable.
The cost of labour is a problem not only at the entry-level; but a reduction in the minimum wage will help bring down costs throughout the economy via a differential effect.
All of this is painful medicine, but lower wages means lower inflation, and minimum wage workers have benefited from the falling prices of the past couple of years. A lower minimum wage is essential to save existing jobs, and to create more. – Yours, etc,