Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions Dail Éireann — 2022-02-08 ============================================================ Micheál Martin (FF), Cork South-Central Average wages in Ireland are higher than the European average, as I think the Deputy will acknowledge. There have been increases linked to productivity, which is good. That would be a priority. Again, even if purchasing power is factored in, our minimum wage is the sixth highest in the 27 EU member states. That is factoring in the cost of living, and so on. We will work with the social partners in respect of this current inflationary cycle and in regard to national agreements and so forth. However, critically, in the next number of days, Government will take measures that will help to alleviate the impact of the current inflationary cycle on people, particularly those on low incomes who are feeling the brunt of the rise in the cost of fuel. As I outlined earlier, internationally, the price of oil and gas has risen exponentially. We need to cushion that blow. It is seeping into the other aspects of the economy in price rises as well. We are determined to take measures that will help people deal with this situation. --- Source: Houses of the Oireachtas. Licensed under CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). The Official Report is revised after first publication; the fetch timestamp below identifies the version quoted. Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2022-02-08/debate/main Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:50:05+00:00 Sitting date: 2022-02-08