A rally was held outside the gates of Leinster House calling on the Dail to support the passage of a People Before Profit (PBP) Bill for the national minimum wage for young workers.
The rally, which preceded debate on the Bill within the Dail, was attended by PBP politicians, trade unions and student groups.
The Bill would amend the National Minimum Wage Act 2000 to end what the party calls “minimum wage pay discrimination” for workers under the age of 20.
The national minimum wage is €11.30 for people aged 20 and over but for people under the age of 20 the legal minimum wage can be as low as €7.91 per hour.
People Before Profit TD Paul Murphy said the Bill would end the “perverse, discriminatory and exploitative” situation whereby those under the age of 20 are legally allowed to be paid less than the minimum wage.
“We know that the minimum wage is completely inadequate to survive on given that we are in a cost-of-living crisis.
“15,000 workers are paid even less than minimum wage purely because they are younger than 20.”
Jamie Mac Giolla Bhain, sustainability officer for the Irish Second–Level Students’ Union, said he was working at age 16.
“I wasn’t being paid the same as my co-workers who were over the age of 20.
“For that period of time (until they turn 20), young people are discriminated against in the workplace when it comes to their rates of pay.”
Union of Students in Ireland vice president for campaigns Ross Boyd said a lot of students have to work part-time or full-time jobs on lower than the minimum wage to afford their education.
“Why are young workers being treated differently just for their age?”
The Government proposes to delay the reading of the Bill for 12 months with Minister of State Neale Richmond saying this would allow for the Low Pay Commission to continue examining sub-minimum rates.
He said recommendations would then be made for the retention or abolition of those rates.
“It is important that we give the Low Pay Commission the time and space to carry out this review.
“When we discuss the minimum wage it is important that we recall the work that has been done and progress made.
“In 2011, the minimum wage was 7.65 an hour. Today the full rate stands at 11.30 – a 7.8% increase this year alone.”
He said a living wage would be achieved by 2026 at the latest.
