Minister Killeen announces increase in national minimum wage to ¤7.65 per hour from 1 st May 2005
Minister Tony Killeen T.D, Minister for Labour Affairs today (Tuesday 12th April, 2005) announced that he has accepted the Labour Court recommendation to increase the national minimum wage to ¤7.65 per hour with effect from 1 May 2005. The Minister will give effect to the increase by Statutory Order.
Commenting on the decision to increase the hourly rate, the Minister said “this increase will benefit low paid workers in our society. In particular, it will be of benefit to part-time workers and younger workers”. The Minister stated that “the rate of increase in the minimum wage, since it was introduced in 2000, had fallen behind increases in average earnings up to 2003. The most recent increase in February 2004 and the further increase in May 2005 brings them back into line.”
The sub-minimum rates which may be paid to certain categories of employee, for instance to persons under the age of 18, to first time job entrants or to those engaged in structured training or study will also increase from this date.
The Minister also confirmed that a publicity campaign involving all the main media is to be conducted to raise awareness of the increase in the National Minimum Wage.
Notes for Editor
The National Minimum Wage was introduced in Ireland in April 2000.
At its introduction on 1 April, 2000 the National Minimum hourly rate of pay was set at £4.40 (¤5.59 per hour). Since then there have been three increases to the rate, the last of which saw it increase to ¤7.00 per hour from 1 February 2004.
As part of the Mid-Term Review of Part Two of Sustaining Progress, the Social Partners agreed to request the Labour Court to review the National Minimum Wage and to make a recommendation to the Minister to apply from 1 May, 2005.
In February the Labour Court submitted its recommendation to the Minister. The Labour Court recommended that the Minimum Wage should be increased from the current rate of ¤7.00 per hour to ¤7.65 per hour from 1 May, 2005.
The Minister has accepted the Labour Court recommendation and will give effect to an increase in the National Minimum Wage to ¤7.65 per working hour from 1 May, 2005. The sub-minimum rates of the National Minimum Wage will also increase from that date.
Sub-minimum Rates
Sub-minimum rates of the National Minimum Wage apply where an employee is:
- Under age 18 or
- In the first two years after the date of first employment over age 18 or
- Undergoing a prescribed course of study or training.
Employees under the age of 18 are entitled to 70% of the national minimum wage. This percentage was recommended by the National Minimum Wage Commission to strike a balance between ensuring that young employees are not exploited and ensuring that the rate of pay does not encourage students to leave full-time education.
The National Minimum Wage Commission recommended that sub-minimum rates should also apply to employees in the first two years of employment over age 18 and to those undergoing structured training. The Commission expressed the view that employers should be encouraged to focus on training and that the structure of the national minimum wage should provide encouragement and inducement for employers to take on unskilled staff and to involve them in training.
These recommendations were endorsed by the Inter-Departmental Group on Implementation of a National Minimum Wage and implemented in the Minimum Wage legislation.
ENDS/TC 113
Last modified: 12/04/2005
| © 2012 Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation | Privacy Statement |
,
