[Ireland] €2,028 minimum wage shake-up in Budget 2025

In Ireland, a significant boost for minimum wage workers is on the horizon with a wage hike to €13.70 coming in Budget 2025, The Irish Sun reports.

The move would put an extra €39 per week, and €2,028 a year, in the pockets of minimum wage workers who work the standard 39 hours per week, before deductions.

The potential pay hike comes as the Low Pay Commission has reportedly recommended increasing basic pay rates by €1 an hour.

The increase could be seen on the payslips of minimum wage workers as soon as January 1, 2025, if approved by Cabinet.

Currently, 164,000 workers in Ireland make minimum wage at a rate of €12.70 per hour. The government has plans to replace the minimum wage with a new living wage by 2026.

The living wage is a rate that makes a "minimum acceptable standard of living" possible. At present, it stands at €14.80 per hour.

The new wage would be 60 per cent of the Irish median wage.

Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the change in 2022, telling The Irish Sun, "I do anticipate that we will see increases to the minimum wage every year over the next number of years. 

“But obviously that will depend on the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission and will depend on where we stand economically. 

“But even at a time of recession and austerity we did have increases and we need to reflect on inflation with the cost of living.”

Source: The Irish Sun

(Quotes via original reporting)

In Ireland, a significant boost for minimum wage workers is on the horizon with a wage hike to €13.70 coming in Budget 2025, The Irish Sun reports.

The move would put an extra €39 per week, and €2,028 a year, in the pockets of minimum wage workers who work the standard 39 hours per week, before deductions.

The potential pay hike comes as the Low Pay Commission has reportedly recommended increasing basic pay rates by €1 an hour.

The increase could be seen on the payslips of minimum wage workers as soon as January 1, 2025, if approved by Cabinet.

Currently, 164,000 workers in Ireland make minimum wage at a rate of €12.70 per hour. The government has plans to replace the minimum wage with a new living wage by 2026.

The living wage is a rate that makes a "minimum acceptable standard of living" possible. At present, it stands at €14.80 per hour.

The new wage would be 60 per cent of the Irish median wage.

Former Taoiseach Leo Varadkar announced the change in 2022, telling The Irish Sun, "I do anticipate that we will see increases to the minimum wage every year over the next number of years. 

“But obviously that will depend on the recommendation of the Low Pay Commission and will depend on where we stand economically. 

“But even at a time of recession and austerity we did have increases and we need to reflect on inflation with the cost of living.”

Source: The Irish Sun

(Quotes via original reporting)