Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 6 May 2026
276. Deputy Mairéad Farrell asked the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment for finance to clarify if a carer working 35 hours a week is entitled to receive the minimum wage; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [32972/26]
View answerThe National Minimum Wage was introduced by the National Minimum Wage Act 2000.
The National Minimum Wage Act 2000 provides for the determination of a national minimum hourly rate of pay for an employee where an employee is interpreted as a person of any age who has entered into, or works, or has worked under, a contract of employment with an employer.
The Act confers a statutory entitlement on employees, and a statutory obligation on employers in relation to the national minimum wage which is the legally binding lowest average hourly rate that can be paid by an employer to an employee. This rate applies to all employees, including full-time, part-time, temporary, and casual employees, with the following exceptions:
• Employees who are close relatives of the employer, where the employer is a Sole Trader, such as a spouse, civil partner, parent, step-parent, grandparent, child, step-child, grandchild, sibling or half-sibling of the employer;
• A craft apprentice within the meaning of the Industrial Training Act, 1967, or the Labour of Services Act, 1987.
The National Minimum Wage Act also provides for sub-minimum rates for those aged under 20.
Employees aged 18 and 19 are entitled to a sub-minimum rate of 80% and 90% of the full National Minimum Wage respectively. The sub-minimum rates for employees aged under 18 are set at 70% of the National Minimum Wage.
On January 1st 2026 the National Minimum Wage by €0.65 to €14.15 per hour, which represents a 4.8% increase.
