HC Deb 09 February 2000 vol 344 c208W
Mrs. Ellman

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the application of the minimum wage in Northern Ireland. [107696]

Mr. Michael J. Foster

To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will make a statement on the impact of the minimum wage in Northern Ireland. [107681]

Mr. Alan Johnson

The national minimum wage helps eradicate in-work poverty, in Northern Ireland as in the rest of the United Kingdom. Latest Office for National Statistics figures indicate that some 20,000 low-paid workers in Northern Ireland had already benefited from the introduction of the national minimum wage at the time of implementation (March-May 1999). We asked the independent Low Pay Commission to report on the impact of the introduction of the minimum wage and the Commission's report, with the Government's response, will be published shortly.