Other groups say proposed 65c hike is \u2018a slap in the face\u2019 for low-paid workers\n<\/p>\n
But unions claim a proposed 65c increase is not enough and another \u201cslap in the face\u201d to low-paid employees.<\/p>\n
It is understood that the Government is considering a hike in the region of 55c to the \u20ac13.50-an-hour minimum rate in the Budget.<\/p>\n
This would be lower than a Low Pay Commission recommendation of a 65c, or 5pc, increase.<\/p>\n
Chair of the Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Isme), Finbarr Filan, who is a Centra retailer and postmaster in Sligo, said the business group believes the minimum wage should be linked to inflation.<\/p>\n
He added a 5pc increase would put \u201cundue pressure on businesses\u201d following substantial increases in recent years.<\/p>\n
Mr Filan added he fully understands why there is a need to increase salaries, but there was no point in doing this if a business did not remain viable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe minimum wage has become the floor from which businesses can employ people,\u201d he said, adding it has a \u201cstep effect\u201d that pushes up pay for workers across the country.<\/p>\n
\nPeople have to start reading the tea leaves<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\u201cMost businesses are making \u00addecisions to cut hours as they try to stay viable. We all want our staff to have a good standard of living but they have issues with housing, healthcare, childcare and energy costs, and we can\u2019t keep forcing those costs back on businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are now going from the best \u00adlittle country in the world to do business to the most expensive country in the world to do business\u2026 People have to start reading the tea leaves.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"David](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/659eaf4d-b21d-4216-aff0-3fd7ca77d8f4.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
David Broderick, director of the Small Firms Association<\/p>\n
David Broderick, director of the Small Firms Association (SFA), said the proposed increase in the national minimum wage flies in the face of reality and would \u201csuffocate\u201d small businesses.<\/p>\n
He said spiralling costs are impeding small businesses from hiring more staff and called for a temporary PRSI rebate in Budget 2026. \u201cMany small businesses will not be able to cope with this latest hike in the minimum wage as it will raise all \u00adother wage brackets on a pro-rata basis,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Greg Ennis, Siptu deputy general secretary for the private sector, said an increase in the region of 67c would be \u201canother slap in the face\u201d from the Government to low-paid workers.<\/p>\n
He said the Government promised these workers that a living wage would be achieved next year.<\/p>\n
Mr Ennis claimed the Government misled workers by pushing this out to at least 2029 within weeks of being elected..<\/p>\n
He said the Government may well push ahead with a \u20ac1bn tax cut by way of Vat reduction to employers within the hospitality sector. Mr Ennis said this was a sector notorious for low pay and poor terms and conditions of employment.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Kathryn Walsh, director of policy at the National Youth Council of Ireland, said it is only fair that young workers paid below the minimum wage are supported if the hospitality sector benefits from a Vat reduction.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Other groups say proposed 65c hike is \u2018a slap in the face\u2019 for low-paid workers But unions claim…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":75314,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[43327,10472,79,18,19,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-75313","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-anne-marie-walsh","9":"tag-budget-2026","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-ie","13":"tag-ireland"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75313"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75313\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}