'Living wage' calculated at €11.50 per hour
A 5c increase in the 'living wage" is being recommended by an expert group to reflect Ireland's growing economy.
Employees should be earning €11.50 per hour to meet the basic costs of living, it says - a third more than the minimum wage of €8.65.
Dr Micheál Collins of the Living Wage Group said he hoped employers will sign up to paying the wage.
"I would anticipate in the years to come that we'll see more and more employees getting the living wage," he said.
The living wage was calculated for the first time last year in Ireland, and set at €11.45. The 5c increase on last year's figure is down to a range of factors which had put downward pressure on the 2014 amount.
Dr Collins said housing, some household goods and some car insurances had all increased in price in the last year.
"The bottom line is employees require 5c more per hour," he said.
Trade Union Unite today welcomed the release of the 2015 Living Wage figure for Ireland. The union’s Ireland Secretary said that, since its launch last year, the Living Wage has become accepted as a minimum threshold of decency .
“Low pay and in-work poverty are endemic in Ireland. The Living Wage technical Group – of which Unite is a member – has calculated that €11.50 per hour is the minimum wage level needed to sustain a decent standard of living. Too many workers fall well below that threshold of decency," said Mr Kelly of Unite.
“Establishing a Living Wage floor would not only benefit workers – it would also benefit businesses up and down the country who rely on the wages in people’s pockets to boost their sales. Unite will continue campaigning to ensure that the Living Wage is implemented as widely as possible and becomes a condition of public procurement."
“One of the strategies to achieve a Living Wage is to raise the Minimum Wage which, as €8.65 per hour, has not been raised since 2007 and is around 25 per cent below the Living Wage. As we stated in our submission to the Low Pay Commission, the Minimum Wage should immediately be increased by €1 per hour”, Jimmy Kelly concluded.
