Hands off the minimum wage
Issued : Thursday 23 July, 2009
Areas : Waterford
Labour Party Councillor Seamus Ryan has has criticised the current proposal to cut the minimum wage as mean and unnecessary.
The Minister for Finance Brian Lenihan and organisations such as ISME and IBEC are all calling for a cut in the minimum wage which Cllr Ryan believes to be unecessary. According to Cllr Ryan the proposed 5% cut in the minimum wage will make little or no difference to employers but could hit many Waterford families hard. There are other ways of assisting employers with business costs rather than cutting the minimum wage. For example the lack of credit from the banks is causing great hardship for businesses but yet the government has done little to help in this key area. Issues such as energy prices and lack of proper infrastructure all need to be addressed by government in order to assist business in this country. The current minimum wage of €8.68 per hour is only a modest payment and must be protected.
ends
Cllr 
