President, I would like to thank the General Secretary and the Executive Council for inviting me to introduce this debate on the economy. The motions concern more than just the key areas of employment, wages, pensions and public finances. An economy that works is one that enables workers, their...

The 2015 Living Wage has been calculated by the Living Wage Technical Group. It is €11.50 per hour. The new figure represents an increase of 5c per hour over the 2014 rate (€11.45). The increase has been driven by changes in the cost of living and changes in the taxation system over the past year...

Significant progress has been made in reducing the overall rate of unemployment in the Republic of Ireland since 2012 when it peaked at one in seven in the workforce. Still, the overall rate remains close to one in ten and is double that in the case of persons under the age of 26. As in previous...

A new NERI research paper estimates the number of workers on the minimum wage and further profiles these workers by gender, by the sector they work in and by their employment status (full-time, part-time, permanent, temporary etc). The data also allows an examination of the household/family...

On Thursday of this week just as half a million children at primary school begin their summer holidays many thousands of children in families with one parent face a drop in family income - a sharp drop in some cases by as much as €140 per week. Just at a time when working parents are under severe...

The Taoiseach Enda Kenny, speaking in Brussels on Thursday, mentioned the following in the context of the ongoing negotiations regarding a debt/bailout deal for Greece: “I pointed out at the EPP that in Ireland’s case we did not increase income tax; we did not increase VAT; we did not increase PRSI...

Monday 22 June 2015. Krinein is a Greek word which means 'to sift or to separate'. It gives rise to the word 'crisis'. Greece has always been at the heart of the European continent. Culturally, linguistically and philosophically ancient Greek civilisation has helped shape who we are as Europeans...