Legislation cutting the minimum wage by €1 an hour has passed all stages in the Dáil.
On a vote, the Dail passed all stages of the Financial Emergency Measures Bill - which also cuts ministers' pay and public sector pensions - by 79 to 74.
Most of the debate in the Dáil this morning on the Financial Emergency Measures Bill focused on the proposed cut in the minimum wage.
Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said we have to start facing economic facts in this country. He said that having the second highest minimum wage in Europe was not sustainable at this time of crisis.
He also said it was not possible to retrospectively put a punitive tax rate on bank bonuses
Discussing a Labour amendment to ensure workers already on the minimum wage will not be affected by the new rate, Green TD Paul Gogarty said he supported the amendment, and hoped the Minister would adopt it.
But if it came to a vote, he said, he would vote against it, as he believed the Budget had to be passed.
The bill will see the Taoiseach's salary cut by €14,000 a year, while Ministers lose €10,000, to €214,000 and €181,000 a year respectively.
Public service pensions are also being hit, with the top earners hit hardest of all, with reductions of 12% on anything over €60,000.
