General Industry News

No final figure currently set for Budget 2023 - Taoiseach

RTE – 14.09.2022

Budget 2023 will include cost-of-living measures, but there is no final figure currently set on what that amount will be, according to the Taoiseach. Micheál Martin said the response of the Government will be aimed at helping families to offset the rising costs that "are going so high at an unprecedented level, the likes of which we have never seen, not even in the late 1970s, when we had faced real experiences of oil crisis". He said the specifics are being worked out, but the principle of saving jobs - as was done during the Covid-19 pandemic - will also apply in this crisis.

Cabinet to approve 80 cent rise to minimum wage

RTE Business – 14.09.2022

The Cabinet is tomorrow set to approve an €0.80 rise to the minimum wage, bringing it to €11.30 per hour from the beginning of next year. Tánaiste Leo Varadkar will bring a recommendation from the Low Pay Commission to Government in the morning. This is one of the biggest increases in the minimum wage but the Commission has warned that the rate alone cannot compensate workers for inflation and recent increases in the cost of living. It recommends that additional measures are taken to support low paid workers. The commission also sets out an indicative rate for what is called a Living Wage. It is set to replace the minimum wage by 2026 and it will be set at 60% of the average wage.