Sinn Féin Dublin South West representative, Seán Crowe TD,  has said he is extremely disappointed in the complete lack of  vision and the scope of the proposals being circulated around the legislative role and responsibilities of the Low Pay Commission, which he said “lacked teeth”.

Crowe is critical of the approach taken by the Minister of State for Business and Employment, Ged Nash, and claims that his current proposals limit the work of a Low Pay Commission to the short term consideration of the national minimum wage, and that this creates a degree of uncertainty for workers and legitimate employers.

Deputy Seán Crowe said:

“The draft legislation being proposed for the Low Pay Commission by Minister of State for Business and Employment, Ged Nash, is disappointing. It lacks teeth, vision, and will create even more uncertainty for vulnerable workers and continue to disadvantage legitimate employers.

“For some bizarre reasoning Minister Nash is proposing to replicate the current British Commission, which increasingly is being found to be totally inadequate and not fit for purpose.

“In Britain under the Conservative led Government, casual low paid insecure work has become the norm and this is increasingly being copied by unscrupulous employers in Ireland.

“In a race to the bottom, zero hour contracts, poor working conditions, and low pay are causing extreme hardship for workers.

“This type of work practices also undermines and puts at a huge disadvantage many legitimate and fair employers.

“So if there is an acceptance that sharp practices are becoming more and more entrenched and supposedly the norm in Ireland, then why is the draft legislation governing the work of a Low Pay Commissions doing nothing to tackle or somehow reverse this growing trend

Crowe continued:

“With this backdrop it is bizarre and inconceivable that any Minister, but particularly a Labour one, would narrow the scope and work of a Low Pay Commission.

“Essentially limiting it to consider only short term increases in the national minimum wage, that will be paid to small percentage, about 5 per cent, of all Irish workers.

“There is also no reference in Minister Nash’s proposals to inequality, poverty, gender, migrant workers, public services access or social protections in this proposed legislation.

“If we are to learn from other more inclusive jurisdictions, then the proposed Low Pay Commission’s terms of reference need to be extended. It needs to be established as the primary watchdog on low pay and its responsibilities widened to tackle the extent of low pay, not just the minimum wage. This would enable it to make long term sector specific recommendations to the government of the day.”

ENDS