Fórsa has written to the Low Pay Commission to endorse the Irish Congress of Trade Unions’ (ICTU) call for the statutory minimum wage to increase by at least 3%. The unions made their submission earlier this month, and argued that, over time, the minimum wage should be aligned with the so-called living wage, currently defined by the Government as €10.50 an hour.

Last month, the statutory minimum wage increased by 3.2%, or €0.30, on foot of a majority recommendation from the Low Pay Commission. ICTU says this level of increase needs to happen every year if the Government is to meet its Programme for Government commitment of a €10.50 minimum by 2021.

The rate is currently €9.55 for an experienced adult worker, but it falls to just €6.69 for under-18s. The ICTU submission points out that most people on the minimum wage are women and younger workers, and says a higher rate would help tackle the gender pay gap and encourage labour market participation.

The submission says the relatively small number of people on minimum pay – compared to the total workforce – means an increase would have little impact on employment levels.