Low paid workers should see their wages increase to €12.90 an hour due to the rising costs of rent, electricity, heating and fuel, campaigners insisted yesterday.
The Living Wage Technical Group said the rate should be €2.70 higher than the present €10.20 to meet normal expenses of a single person.
Robert Thornton, from the Vincentian Partnership for Social Justice, said: “The living wage rate is based on the rationale that full-time employment will at least provide for a socially acceptable minimum standard of living for a single person without dependents.
“It represents the minimum required to meet physical, social and psychological needs, and enable a life with dignity.
“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.”
Mr Thorton is also a member of LWTG, which has totted up 2,000 expenses including rent, energy, food, transport and clothing costs.
Taoiseach Micheal Martin has promised to look at bringing in a new living wage. A rise in the rate appears likely on October 12 after Tanaiste Leo Varadkar said a jump is needed to keep up with the cost of living.
The year of the first living wage rate was first published in 2014 and since then, housing costs have increased by 66% nationally.
If rents had moved in line with other prices, the recommended hourly rate calculated by the LWTG and the VPSJ would now be €10.70.
Energy, home heating and transport costs have also soared and the LWTG said this has compounded the pressure on prices and wages.
Bord Gais is the latest firm to announce hikes of €8.16 per month for gas and €10.26 for electricity – with more than 300,000 gas and 350,000 electricity customers impacted.
Approximately one-in-five full-time workers are earning less than the living wage here.
The gap between the minimum pay (€10.20) and the living wage stands at €2.70 per hour.
