Speaking the first meeting of the low pay commission

I’m very proud today to welcome the members of the Low Pay Commission to their first meeting.
The Commission represents the next step in the Labour Party and the Government prioritising work and fairness as the economic recovery takes hold.

Employment is rising rapidly and unemployment is falling.

95,000 new jobs have been created since the depths of the crisis, the vast majority of them full-time.

3,300 jobs are now being created every month.

Unemployment is falling rapidly, and, crucially, so too is long-term unemployment.

Having a job is the best protector against poverty.

And fair wages and conditions are essential to that.

I have long argued that we as a society need to look seriously at the issues surrounding low pay.

My goal is to ensure a social, as well as an economic recovery, led by real growth in people’s wages.

I believe the Low Pay Commission represents an excellent example of how we can achieve both.

The central importance of work to a functioning society is key to my philosophy.

And it has been key to the work of this Government.

We work extremely hard to help job seekers back into employment, education or training.

But a job alone can never be the end of the story.

Essential to a modern, fair society is that we get our people into work that pays, and pays fairly, so that they can support themselves and their families.

So they can feel productive and secure.

And so that society in general benefits from the hugely positive effects this generates.

At the moment, the State steps in to top-up low wages and help families return to – and stay – in work.

I’ll give you two examples.

The first is Family Income Supplement – a weekly tax-free top-up payment for low paid workers with children.

We spend more than €280 million a year on FIS to help over 50,000 families – and it is money extremely well spent.

Secondly, in addition to FIS, we have introduced the Back to Work Family Dividend this year.

This enables job seekers returning to work retain the element of the welfare payment they receive for their children – roughly €30 a week for each child.

It’s an extremely generous and important support, because it means that, over two years:

· A family with one child will receive additional support of more than €2,300 to supplement wages;

· A family with two children will receive more than €4,600; and

· Those with three children will receive almost €7,000.

This is in addition to any FIS entitlements the family may have.

These payments meet two needs.

To assist families back to work and build a better financial future for themselves over time.

And to ensure that nobody falls below a certain threshold of decency.

But supplementary welfare is not the long-term solution to low wages.

We must aim higher than that.

If we are interested in long-term solutions, it is crucial we start looking at why there are jobs that simply do not pay enough to cover the basic costs of living.

It is an issue of particular concern for those of us who identify as social democrats.

But more so, it should be concerning to everyone who believes in a stable, fair economy fit for the 21st century.

No dynamic economy can ever be allowed to stagnate.

The same must go for wages – and for minimum levels of pay most of all.

It is essential for society to ensure working people can stay ahead of the cost of living.

Moreover, low paying work is an issue that we already know has a disproportionate effect on women.

We raised the minimum wage as one of our first commitments in Government.

Now, with the Commission, we push pay outside the realm of party politics and make it an issue on which independent experts, employer and worker representatives can come to fact based conclusions and recommendations.

We need something that can operate on a rolling basis, adapting its recommendations in good time as economic circumstances change.

We need a body that listens to the viewpoints of employees and employers both.

And most of all, we need a group that ensures issues around low pay stay front and centre in the public debate, and are never allowed to drift off the agenda.

That’s what this Low Pay Commission will be.

And I hope to see in its reports the kind of practical measures Government can implement to ensure the growing recovery can at last be felt from the top to the bottom of our national pay scale, and across the entire breadth of Irish society.

I also hope, in time, to see your work form the basis for a Living Wage for Ireland.

I wish chairperson Donal de Buitléir and the eight Commissioners the very best of luck in their work.

It could not be more important