Hopes are rising that the minimum wage will be raised as part of the 2024 budget as senior government sources claim that “no minister has ever rejected the Low Pay Commission”, reports The Mirror.
Earlier this summer it was reported that the Low Pay Commission had recommended that the government increase the minimum wage rate from €11.30 to €12.70.
The proposed increase will result in an increase of €54.60 per week for people working 39 hours a week.
This follows an 80-cent increase in last year’s budget.
As Minister for Enterprise, Simon Coveney is responsible for the minimum wage.
The Low Pay Commission’s 2023 report has not yet been published, but the Irish Mirror understands “its in entirety” considered by the government.
“No minister has ever rejected the Low Pay Commission,” one Government source said, reports The Mirror.
Last year, the government announced it would move away from the minimum wage in favour of a living wage.
Former Enterprise Minister and now Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announced last November that the National Living Wage would be set at 60 per cent of average hourly wages.
It will be introduced for a period of four years and will apply until 2026 when it will replace the national minimum wage, reports The Mirror.
The commission has suggested that the living wage in 2023 will be €13.10.
A spokesman for the SIPTU trade union told the Irish Mirror that while it welcomes the suggestion of a minimum wage
“SIPTU supports the government’s commitment to increase the minimum wage to 60 per cent of median earnings by 2026,” he said, reports The Mirror.
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