Minimum Wage Levels were last revised  in Ireland from July 1st 2011 . The rates of pay were increased  by the current Fine Gael – Labour government.  ( they reversed the previous cut made by Fianna Fail.)

These are the minimum rates of pay in Ireland for 2013

Experienced adult worker €8.65 per hour

Over 19 and in 2nd year of first employment €7.79

Over 18 and in first year of first employment €6.92

Aged under 18 €6.06 per hour

Trainees:

Employee aged over 18, in structured training during working hours

1st one third of course €6.49 an hour

2nd third of course €6.92

3rd part of course €7.79

These minimum wage rates are in effect since July 2011 and are valid during 2013

After Labour party members voted overwhelmingly to enter into a coalition government with Fine Gael at the weekend – we look briefly at how the joint draft programme for government will impact on Irish people’s pockets

Property and water charges are set to be fast-tracked  – but no mention of amounts or dates yet.

Social welfare payments will be untouched .

Income Tax -  rates of income tax, together with bands and credits, are to be unchanged.

Universal Social Charge – to be reviewed

Minimum Wage - The €1 cut in the minimum wage is being reversed

PRSI -  jobs which pay a maximum of €356 a week will have the lower rate of PRSI of 8.5 per cent reduced by 50 per cent until the end of 2013.

VAT on services will fall from 13.5 per cent to 12 per cent until the end of 2013

Travel Tax is to be scrapped.

Universal Health Insurance is hoped to  be in place by the end of the new government’s term in 2016.  The privatisation of the VHI is being scrapped aUnder this “universal primary care” system, fees for GP care will be removed.

Property tax reliefs will be reduced, capped or abolished.

As announced as part of the Four Year National Recovery Plan – the national minimum wage is going to be cut from €8.65 an hour to €7.65 an hour. This is a 12% drop. The new rates come into effect on February 1st 2011

One of the reasons given for this cut is to help businesses grow by cutting costs.
The Recovery plan states that…..

“Introduced in 2000 at a rate of €5.59, the National Minimum Wage (NMW) is currently set at €8.65. It has been increased six times since its introduction and is now 55% higher than its original level. By end 2010 the consumer price index is forecast to have increased by approximately 28% since 2001.”

A weeks wages on €7.65 an hour works out at  about €298 . Someone on  Jobseekers Benefit plus medical card and rent supplement may not think it is worth bothering with a job  if they are not much better off  financially .

See details of the new   Minimum Wage Levels in Ieland

The Guardian newspaper recently described Ireland’s well paid public sector workers not as fat Cats – but Morbidly Obese Cats.
It was hoped that maybe some of the high earners would end up getting a bit less after Budget 2011.
The changes in the Budget to PRSI and Tax as well as the new Social Charge – will result in a drop in take-home pay for the majority of workers in Ireland.

For example – a single person on €25k a year will see a drop in annual take home pay of €989 – a cut of 4.6%

However – someone employed in a job with the same pay as the head of ESB – which is  €752,568 a year will see monthly take home pay drop from €31,276 to  €31,030 – which is a drop of just €246 – or 0.008%.

In percentage terms – the effect on the minimum wage person is over 400  times more than the cut to the head of ESB.

The discrepancy gets worse – high earning  self employed people will end up with more net pay after the changes in this Budget.  A single self employed person with gross salary of more than €200000 will end up with more. The higher the earnings – the bigger the increase in take home pay.

Someone who is self employed with a salary the same as the head of ESB -  €752,568 – would have had  a monthly net pay before the Budget 2011 of €29,490 .

After all the Budget changes to PRSI, Tax , Levies and USC – they will end up taking home €30,871 a month – an increase of €1381 .

Fat Cats getting Fatter?