Government Approves a Minimum Wage Increase of 10 cent per Hour
The National Minimum is to be increased by 10 cent per hour on January 1st, 2021. This will increase the minimum wage per hour from €10.10 to €10.20 per hour. Heather Humphreys, the Minister for Social Protection intends to reform PRSI thresholds so that employers paying the increased minimum wage are not paying a higher PRSI amount as a result of this increase. She has pointed out that the Minimum National Wage has increased from €8.65 in 2016 up to this new rate of €10.20 to be implemented in 2021. As a result of these increases, Ireland has the third highest wage rate in the European Union. The increase is due to affect 122 thousand Irish workers. However, the Unions feel this increase is not sufficient to address the needs of those on low incomes. The increase is less than 1% and is considered inadequate. This has led to the Irish Congress of Trade Unions walking out of the Low Pay Commission, a commission which was established in 2015 to advise and make recommendations to the Government in matters regarding the National Minimum Wage. The Secretary of the ICTU, Patricia King said “We could not in conscience be party to any recommendation that did not afford the lowest paid workers in the Republic of Ireland an increase of 2% similar to other sectors in our economy.”
Approximately 340 thousand staff across the public service are set to receive a 2% pay rise in October. Patricia King also went on to say that “many of the workers on the minimum wage form part of the cadre of essential workers who have helped keep our economy going through this Covid -19 pandemic.”
