The low pay scandal in Celtic Tiger mark 2

Abstract

The news that ended 2018 was that Ireland had the highest recorded number of people at work in the state’s history, surpassing the previous peak during the Celtic Tiger. Combined with record economic growth and profit margins in many sectors that are surpassing their 2007 peaks and the picture looks like justifying the hyperbole of Paschal Donohoe, the Finance minister, who waxed lyrical about the new jobs figures:

Behind each of these additional jobs ...is a human story: one of a jobseeker getting back on his/her feet, a household putting another salary on the table at the end of the week or the school leaver joining the jobs-market. Paschal Donohue

If those new jobs repeat the pattern of the last 6 years of job growth, then an inordinate number of these “human stories” will be tales of low pay, low hours and precarious contracts with no prospect of a decent pension, paid sick leave or job security.