TDs slam Varadkar for ’grossly offensive’ and ‘out of touch’ remarks on the minimum wage
LEO Varadkar is facing criticism after suggesting that people on minimum wage are usually not a household’s main breadwinner, with Opposition TDs branding the comments ‘grossly offensive’ and ‘out of touch’.
Proposals brought to Cabinet by the Tánaiste yesterday will see the minimum wage phased out by 2026 and replaced with a ‘living wage’.
The Low Pay Commission has decided the living wage will be set at 60% of the median wage in any given year, which in 2022 would be set at €12.17 per hour, compared to the current minimum rate of €10.50 per hour.
If the living wage was introduced this year, a person would earn at least €22,782 annually based on the assumption they work 39 hours a week for 48 weeks. It was put to the Tánaiste that this is not enough for a person to live on, particularly when inflation is rising.
Mr Varadkar defended the rates, stating that ‘everyone’s circumstances are different’.
He said: ‘It is important to bear in mind that for people who currently earn the minimum wage, many are students who if at home don’t necessarily have to pay rent or pay utility bills.
‘Very often people who are on the minimum wage are not the main earners in the house; it’s a second or third income in the household. What we don’t want to do is to price them out of the labour market.
‘The most important workers’ right is the right to work.’
Labour’s employment spokeswoman, Marie Sherlock, said Mr Varadkar’s comments were ‘seriously misplaced’.
She added: ‘No matter what people’s circumstances, they deserve to be decently paid for a day’s work.
‘We don’t know anything about a person’s circumstances. An 18year-old could have to pay rent on their own. There are a whole load of loaded presumptions in what the Tánaiste has said and I think that is deeply unfair.’
Senator Sherlock questioned why the commitment to bring in the living wage stretches beyond the current Government’s lifespan. A general election is to be held in or before 2025.
She said: ‘The Government has made a major announcement about something they are going to do beyond their term of office. You’re either going to introduce during your term or you’re not. It’s part of the Programme for Government. It confirms the lip service we’ve seen now for two years about a commitment to improving working standards in this country.’
Sinn Féin employment spokeswoman Louise O’Reilly said: ‘The living wage should be enough for a person to live on.
‘Those comments honestly show how out of touch he is with people’s lived reality.
‘The fact he thinks it’s people sitting in their parents’ back bedroom looking for pocket money would explain his lack of urgency around the introduction of a living wage.’ She called the comments ‘deeply offensive’, adding: ‘If he looked around, he would see grown men and women trying to make a living on the minimum wage.
‘They’re the working poor and [Mr Varadkar] absolutely refuses to acknowledge they exist.’
Mr Varadkar also said people will see ‘more money in their pockets’ after Budget day as a result of tax relief and pay rises.
His comments come as Fine Gael senators yesterday called for the introduction of a new 30% tax rate for middle-income earners – a motion he said he would not oppose.