The Low Pay Commission has recommended an increase to the minimum wage to bring it up to €12.70.

In a submission to the Low Pay Commission previously the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU) had called for an increase in the national minimum wage by €2, bringing it up to an hourly rate of €13.30.

ICTU general secretary Owen Reidy welcomed the recent recommendation, although he said it was 'not as much' as they would have liked.

"A 12% increase is not as much as we would have liked but it is going in the right direction and it does address some of the poorer increases, we have seen in previous years which in some cases were lower than inflation," said Mr Reidy.

Mr. Reidy also said minimum wage workers were disproportionately impacted by the cost-of-living crisis and were “hit the hardest”.

In 2022, the Government announced its plans to introduce a national living wage and phase out the minimum wage over the next few years. The recommended increase would have to approved by the Cabinet in the autumn.

The Irish Times estimates around 165,000 people will directly benefit from the increase, most of them women, people with disabilities and young and migrant workers.

In its submission to the low pay commission, ICTU highlighted the EU Adequate Minimum Wage Directive which states that minimum wages are to be considered adequate if they are fair in relation to the wage distribution in the relevant member state and if they provide a decent standard of living for workers based on a full-time employment relationship.

The Directive acknowledges that women, younger workers, migrant workers, single parents, low-skilled workers, persons with disabilities, and in particular persons who suffer from multiple forms of discrimination, still have a higher probability of being minimum wage or low wage earners than other groups.

Therefore, the directive requires that the setting of minimum wages be guided by criteria set to contribute to their adequacy, with the aim of achieving a decent standard of living, reducing in-work poverty, as well as promoting social cohesion and upward social convergence, and reducing the gender pay gap.

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