TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has said that the Covid-19 pandemic has “exposed the duality of the Irish economy” and said that the government would begin looking at a living wage.

Martin promised that his government would examine the “whole area of a living wage” and said that it would become “a theme of the government”.

He said that he would examine working conditions for low paid workers and to ensure that there was security for their income in the future, adding that the current public sector pay deal is weighted towards lower-paid workers in the public service.

However, Martin maintained that Ireland remains better than other countries “in terms of income equality”.

“There was a recent study which showed that even because of, from 2000 onwards, there was a dramatic impact in reducing income inequality in Ireland which was counterintuitive to what was happening in other parts of the globe but we have to keep at it,” said Martin.

Carbon tax

On climate change issues, Martin questioned climate activists who do not support the introduction of the carbon tax.

“We took the decision in opposition to support the carbon tax, it’s not popular with everybody, we’ve been consistent in following that through in government.

“I would say to others who oppose it, you simply can’t really be serious about climate change if you’re not prepared to do the hard work that’s associated with that.”

According to Martin, by having the funds raised through the carbon tax the government is able to take up projects like retrofitting.

In Budget 2021, the Government increased the carbon tax by €7.50, going from €26 per tonne to €33.50 per tonne. This currently only applies to auto fuels but will be applied to solid fuels from May 2021.