Minister of State at the Department of Labour Dara Calleary has said the Government is committed to bringing forwards legislation to modernise systems that allow individual employers to submit a claim to the Labour Court if they are faced with economic challenges and can't pay the minimum wage.
Speaking at the MacGill Summer School, Mr Calleary said: 'There is already an existing mechanism under the existing legislation that allows companies to plead an inability to pay in relation to the minimum wage.
'Companies apply to the Labour Court, produce individual figures, and if the Labour Court decides that the company has a case it can grant a stay on the paying of wages of between three months and a year.
'What we are proposing here is that this mechanism be introduced into the various sectors that are covered by joint labour agreements such as retail, agriculture, food and catering.
'It does not exist at the moment and it may give people a chance, particularly in the current time of economic pressure to keep people in employment while at the same time controlling their wage costs.'
