There has been a clash between employer and union leaders over the idea of a statutory minimum wage. It came during interviews at a day-long conference on low pay organised by the Combat Poverty Agency and the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU).
Report shows conference and interview with economist John Blackwell, University College Dublin (UCD), who agrees that mass unemployment has created an employers' market. He also emphasises the number of young people emigrating.
Interview with Patricia O'Donovan, Deputy General Secretary, ICTU, on the non-enforcement of a statutory minimum wage.
Interview with Jim O'Brien, Federation of Irish Employers (FIE), who says such enforcement might result in those affected being 'displaced from employment'.
The reporter is Pat Sweeney.
