THE living wage rate in Ireland should be hiked by nearly 7 per cent to €14.80 per hour (£12.79), campaigners said today.

Ireland’s Living Wage Technical Group (LWTG) said that a rise of 6.9 per cent from €13.85 per hour (£11.97) was needed so that workers could keep pace with the soaring cost of living in Ireland.

The living wage is regarded as the minimum rate of pay needed to allow a full time worker to meet the basic costs of living.

The LWTG is supported by groups such as Unite the Union, the Services Industrial Professional and Technical Union, Social Justice Ireland, the Nevin Economic Research Institute and the Vincentian Minimum Essential Standard of Living Research Centre (VMESLRC).

The group says that the increase needed in the living wage is because of the rise in energy, food and rent costs over the last year.

Last year, the Irish government agreed to introduce a new national living wage to replace the existing minimum wage by 2026.

The new measure will be phased in over four years and will be set at 60 per cent of the hourly median wage.

The government said that in 2023 this amounted to about €13.10 per hour (£11.32).

VMESLRC research manager Robert Thornton, also a member of the LWTG, said: “Having an income below this standard of living means doing without goods and services which are essential for taking part in the norms of everyday life in Ireland.”

Lidl Ireland said on Wednesday that it would commit to the new living wage rate of €14.80 (£12.82).

The supermarket chain said that it will commit to investing €3 million (£2.6m) to introduce the change that will benefit 2,000 of its employees. 

Aldi also said that it will match the increased living wage recommendation with the changes due to be implemented from February 2024.