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The Low Pay Commission is recommending an increase in the national minimum wage of 10 cents per hour. In its second report a majority of the members of the Commission recommend that the appropriate rate of the national minimum wage should rise to €9.25 per hour. 

The current rate of the minimum wage is €9.15. The minimum wage was last increased on 1st January 2016, following Government acceptance of the Low Pay Commission’s first recommendation, made in July 2015, that the rate increase by 50 cents an hour from €8.65. 

The report was submitted to Jobs Minister Mary Mitchell O'Connor, and sets out a range of data it has considered in recommending the increase. The Commission also sought submissions from interested parties and consulted directly with workers on the minimum wage and employers in relevant economic sectors.

Minister Mitchell O’Connor said:

The Low Pay Commission as a body is specifically established to assess the appropriate level of the national minimum wage (NMW). The Commission is balanced and non-political and is tasked with carrying out an evidence-based assessment in proposing an appropriate level of the NMW, taking into account issues such as impacts on job-creation and competitiveness. I brought the Commission’s report and recommendation to Government earlier today, and it will be considered in detail in the context of Budget 2017. 

For more information read the press release here.