Sinn Féin TD for Dublin South West Seán Crowe has described the Low Pay Commission’s recommendation of a 10c increase in the minimum wage as “a kick in the teeth to workers”.

Teachta Crowe welcomed the withdrawal of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions from the Commission, saying “ICTU have put the interests of workers first, something that others in this country seem to have forgotten”.

Teachta Crowe said:

“The Low Pay Commission was set up five years ago to make recommendations on raising the minimum wage, but all they have done is say that workers should be given buttons while the better off in our society get rewarded

“A 10c increase in the minimum wage at a time when all families are suffering and austerity looms on the horizon once more is a gross insult and a kick in the teeth to workers and families.

“I agree wholeheartedly with ICTU’s stance and their withdrawal from the Commission, especially with their statement that ‘If we have learned anything as a society in this pandemic, it is that we must value work and those who carry it out. We must make work pay.’

“The austerity from the last recession was shouldered by low paid workers and their families.
“I don’t believe that Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil would hesitate for one second to do it again if they could get away with it.

“Work must pay and be rewarded in this country if we are ever to have a fair and equal society. My party Sinn Féin remains fully committed to the introduction of a Living Wage and will work with other progressive forces both in and outside the Dáil to make it a reality.”