The minimum wage rate is likely to be extended to under 20s under new legislation that will be discussed today by the Oireachtas Committee on Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

Current legislation allows for lower or sub-minimum rates for people aged under 20, meaning that younger people working in sectors including retail and hospitality can legally be paid less than the mandatory rate for those aged 20 and up. There are tens of thousands of younger people in the workforce, both part and full time, who could be getting less pay for the same work done by slightly older colleagues.

Under the rules right now, the minimum wage for those aged 19 is 90% of the set rate, for 18-year-olds it's is 80% and for 17 year olds and younger it is 70%.

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The minimum wage is currently 12.70 per hour, meaning effective rates of 11.43 for 19-year-olds, 10.16 for 18 year olds and those under 18 get as little as 8.89.

The Low Pay Commission has already called for ending sub-minimum rates and the Department of Enterprise commissioned an economic impact assessment on the issue, as some sectors, particularly hospitality, warn this could severely impact businesses.

The trade unions have welcomed calls for the scrapping of sub-minimum wage rates. bbut some business groups, have warned that employers would be far...

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