Around three-quarters of the Irish workforce earn salaries that are less than the €38,000 pay rise awarded to the Taoiseach in recent weeks, according to figures obtained by the Labour Party.
The figures from Minister for Finance Brian Cowen show that 1.452 million employees were earning less than €38,000-a-year in 2006, out of a total workforce of 2.1 million.
Labour TD Ciaran Lynch says that, unlike the Taoiseach, many of these workers are struggling to meet mortgage payments and the daily cost of living.