The parish priest of one of the country's most socially deprived parishes has described the recent government proposals to cut the minimum wage by €1 as “obnoxious.”
Limerick city South Hill parish priest, Fr Pat Hogan, said that the government's decision to cut the minimum wage from €8.65 per hour to €7.65 per hour under its Recovery Plan to rescue the Irish economy, “is yet again targeting the wrong people.”
Fr Hogan claimed that, “Only two per cent of the workforce in Ireland is on the minimum wage and not only will this group be facing a 12 per cent cut but those in and around the minimum wage will see their pay reduced as well.”
“I agree we need a new conversation on social welfare, given the huge budget deficit in Ireland, but it was terrible to listen to Ministers getting €200,000 a year defending this cut in the media when it is those Ministers who are responsible for the state that the country is in at the moment”.
He added, “The way these people speak about people on the lowest incomes is just obnoxious.”
Fr Hogan's comments came just moments after he encouraged the government not to abandon its regeneration policy for Limerick City.
Last summer, he claimed, the people of South Hill needed the hope that comes with the Regeneration project claiming that “however slowly it comes it is needed for the people of Limerick city.”
SIC: CIN/IE
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