Yesterday, the pandemic unemployment payment was cut for thousands of people who lost their jobs as a result of Covid. This morning, we hear that the Low Pay Commission will be recommending an increase of 10 cent per hour to the minimum wage. The workers in question were deemed to be essential when Covid first hit and they continue to work under very difficult circumstances to keep the State running. Next week, Deputies are going to get another pay hike, of 2%, which is nearly €2,000. This is a real kick in the gut for the people who had their pandemic unemployment payment cut It is a real kick in the gut for those low-paid employees who will see an increase to the minimum wage of a mere 10 cent. I, like all Sinn Féin Deputies, will not accept that pay hike.

I thank the Deputy. Time is up.

May I just finish on this point? There is a perception that some politicians are standing on the backs of these low-paid employees to stick their snouts in the trough. What is the Taoiseach going to do? Will he stop the pay hike for all politicians next week?

Deputy, please. You are taking your own colleagues' time. I call Deputy O'Reilly.

Ms Patricia King of ICTU and Mr. Gerry Light of Mandate have been left with no option but to walk away from the Low Pay Commission. As the Taoiseach has said, the commission is not an arm of the Government. The representatives know that. They have walked away because they could not achieve at the table the minimum increase they required, of 2%. That was not a target; it was their floor. They could not even achieve that. My question is simple: does the Taoiseach propose to legislate for a meaningful increase in the minimum wage for workers or is he content to stand here, give them a round of applause and tell them to take that to Tesco and try to buy their food and groceries with it? These people have brought us through the pandemic. They are essential workers. The one thing the pandemic has done is give us an opportunity to re-evaluate the exact meanings of "front-line worker" and "essential worker". When we are talking about these workers, we are talking about cleaners and people who work in retail, the supply chain, hospitality and accommodation. Many of them have lost their jobs.

The Deputy's time is up.

They are on the minimum wage that has been set by the Government and they want to know whether the Taoiseach, as Head of Government, intends to legislate for a meaningful increase. He does not need to wait for a report from the Low Pay Commission; he can actually do it now.

Does Deputy Barry wish to speak on the same matter?

Yes. I should have swung by the canteen on the way to the Dáil Chamber just now. I could have bought myself a packet of peanuts to hold it up in the air and ask the Taoiseach whether it is what he is going to offer low-paid workers in the budget. There is a recommendation of less than 1% from the Low Pay Commission. We are talking about workers who played a key role in getting this country through the lockdown earlier this year. I would like to hear from the Taoiseach a guarantee that an insulting increase of 1% will not even be considered by the Government and that the national minimum wage will be increased by considerably more than that.

All Deputies know the Low Pay Commission is an independent commission. Every Deputy in this House supports low-paid workers. The last five recommendations have been implemented by the Government. That is the whole reason behind having ICTU, unions and employers together on the commission. As has been said, ICTU was not in a position to accept the recommendation of 10 cent. It wanted a minimum increase of 20 cent.

The State's intervention in supporting workers has been unprecedented. Over 750,000 workers are now on one State support or other, including the pandemic unemployment payment. Three hundred and fifty thousand workers are being supported by means of the wage subsidy scheme. This is never acknowledged at all but it is an important State intervention and a necessary one because of the pandemic.

On Deputy Brady's point, I have heard before about Sinn Féin Members not taking their salaries. For years, the party has said its members would only take the average industrial wage.