abolish the minimum wage

Scofflaw

murphaph wrote: »

There are artificial floors in place in the rental sector as well Noreen. The Rent Supplement payment sets an artificial floor on rents which would vanish it Rent Supplement was not there (we'd have to use RAS exclusively or find some means of paying for private rented accommodation but but by setting maximum rates as it ends up being the default rent for a particular property type in a given area)

I understand that you personally have not seen a great fall in the cost of living but it is falling generally (apart from govt controlled areas like health and transport) and would fall faster if wages were lower.

If you're renting right now things are only going to get cheaper on that score for the foreseeable. Those who bought recently are in a bit of a pickle but what can we do? People made personal decisions to ignore the warnings of property collapse (they were there) and there are consequences.

We simply don't have the luxury to compare everything to our current cost of living to the exclusion of more meaningful comparisons with our competitors in Europe. I'm doing a bit of work for a firm that moved their HQ from London to Berlin to save costs. Nokia are intent on clsong their London operation and moving all software development to Berlin...because it's cheaper. It's cost cost cost at the moment and Ireland needs to respond at all wage levels IMO. Others are free to disagree.

I don't have a problem with that. Lowering the minimum wage seems reasonable in the context of a general lowering of wages - its abolition for doctrinal reasons does not.

cordially,
Scofflaw

murphaph

Scofflaw wrote: »

I don't have a problem with that. Lowering the minimum wage seems reasonable in the context of a general lowering of wages - its abolition for doctrinal reasons does not.

cordially,
Scofflaw

Agreed wholeheartedly.

Taxipete29

murphaph wrote: »

There are artificial floors in place in the rental sector as well Noreen. The Rent Supplement payment sets an artificial floor on rents which would vanish it Rent Supplement was not there (we'd have to use RAS exclusively or find some means of paying for private rented accommodation but but by setting maximum rates as it ends up being the default rent for a particular property type in a given area)

I understand that you personally have not seen a great fall in the cost of living but it is falling generally (apart from govt controlled areas like health and transport) and would fall faster if wages were lower.

If you're renting right now things are only going to get cheaper on that score for the foreseeable. Those who bought recently are in a bit of a pickle but what can we do? People made personal decisions to ignore the warnings of property collapse (they were there) and there are consequences.

We simply don't have the luxury to compare everything to our current cost of living to the exclusion of more meaningful comparisons with our competitors in Europe. I'm doing a bit of work for a firm that moved their HQ from London to Berlin to save costs. Nokia are intent on clsong their London operation and moving all software development to Berlin...because it's cheaper. It's cost cost cost at the moment and Ireland needs to respond at all wage levels IMO. Others are free to disagree.

The whole rent supplement issue is a disgrace. This payment needs to be phased out totally over the next few years. It only serves to further line the pockets of the landlords and developers who have helped cause the mess in this country.

While I agree in theory about the artificial floor it creates in the rental market, I think that is changing due to the sheer volume of rental properties on the market. Most landlords cant afford not to have someone in the property.

If we are to look seriously at our competitors in Europe for price comparison, then the Govt needs to be the first to act. Change the tax system. We need higher direct taxes, lower VAT, Excise duty, VRT etc. The cost base might need to be lower but prices have to get their before wages or the poverty levels shoot up in the intervening period.

We have ridiculous systems in this country that have nothing to do with wages. The ESB cant lower prices at the moment to create real competition. How many leases still have Upward only rent reviews, these need to be terminated. Items like these result in higher costs for business and have little or nothing to do with a minimum wage. Sort out the rest first and then come looking for a wage decrease if that doesnt work.

Valmont

I currently work for the minimum wage 5 days a week and only earn around 50 or 60 euro more than the moochers (whom I work with) who work two days while receiving job seekers allowance for the rest of the week. I don't see how a reduction in minimum wage could possibly work without a proportionately bigger reduction in welfare.

AlekSmart

Valmont: I currently work for the minimum wage 5 days a week and only earn around 50 or 60 euro more than the moochers (whom I work with) who work two days while receiving job seekers allowance for the rest of the week. I don't see how a reduction in minimum wage could possibly work without a proportionately bigger reduction in welfare.

As tends to be the case in may things,the answers to the most complex questions are quite often very simple

Well said Valmont,the type of observation which tends only to come from somebody inside looking out....:)

whadabouchasir

Like many students I depend on a part time job to kep me in college,and of course this job is a minimum wage job.so if the minimum wage was decreased by a large amount then I would be unable to afford to pay for my living costs while in college and would more than likely drop out.now if this were to happen to a lot of peoplle then we would be in an even worse situation than we are at the minute as we would have less graduates and probably more youth unemployment leading to a greater number of long term unemployed.