The Government is to look at introducing a living wage to tackle income inequality, Taoiseach Micheál Martin has said.
r Martin has also signalled his support for a new broadcasting charge to fund media into the future and said that he has told local authorities that the Government will fund any new greenway projects they have as part of its response to the climate crisis.
Mr Martin told a pre-Christmas briefing of political journalists that Covid-19 has exposed income inequality and that measures to address this would be introduced by Government, including a living wage.
"I think there is a clear message emanating from Covid that it has exposed the duality of the Irish economy in terms of low-paid workers and in terms of... and yet the sectors that were key to us all from March onwards were retail and so forth.
"Now some employers have been good, I have to say, in terms of the practices that they've deployed in respect of their workforce. And I do think we need to look at that and the Government will be looking at the whole area of a living wage, that's something we've got to do, not just a minimum wage but a living wage, which would really deal to some degree with that issue.
"And also, better conditions for workers and we'll have to constantly look at that, we have dealt with this in some shape already in terms of the contract hours and in terms of security of tenure for employees.
"All of that has to be examined and is being examined, with a view to underpinning security income for lower paid workers, even the current public service pay agreement is weighted towards lower income workers in the public service. And I think that will be a theme of the Government in terms of that issue."
He said overall Ireland is better than other countries in terms of income inequality but said "we have to keep at it", and that emerging from the pandemic "there's a far greater degree of acknowledgement and respect for that issue".
On climate action, Mr Martin said the pandemic had made people focus on the need to deal with the "existential threats" it poses. He said the National Economic Recovery Plan, which will be launched in the New Year, will focus heavily on the green economy and "digitalisation".
"In a certain sense people reflecting on Covid are saying we do need to sort out the most existential threat facing us, which is the climate, and we just have to take actions in relation to it," he said.
He said the most recent European Council meeting went on for 23 hours to get an agreement on reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55pc over the next 10 years compared with 1990 levels.
"One or two countries were holding out and the rest of the member states felt we just have to stick at this until we get a result for the younger generations, and that's what some leaders said, 'We need to do this for the younger generations, we cannot have failure at this meeting.'
"I know Eamon Ryan is strong on this and he has my backing 100pc, like Fianna Fáil are going to be strong on this in Government, we're not holding back, there's a huge opportunity in terms of greenways and walkways."
Mr Martin added: "I've said to local authorities anywhere I meet them: 'dust down your plans.' Any shovel-ready projects, there will be funding for them because the quality of life that is improved because of just a simple greenway being provided is enormous. People keep talking to me about the Dungarvan route for example and the enormous impact that has had on people's quality of life. So, I would like to see more and more of that."
He said the Just Transition Fund provided an opportunity to invest in environmentally friendly projects in communities that previously depended on heat-generating plants, such as in the Midlands. He said increases in carbon tax had not been popular, but there was no alternative.
"I would say to others who oppose it, you simply can't really be serious about climate change if you're not prepared to do the hard work that's associated with that - and that involves a carbon tax that yields revenue that enables us to do big projects like retrofitting, protecting those in fuel poverty."
Separately, Mr Martin said it had "always been a view of mine" that there should be a broadcasting charge introduced and that this is being looked at by the recently established Future of Media Commission. He said the charge should go towards a ringfenced fund to properly resource media.
"I think modern media is under threat from a whole range of forces and I think the greater independence we can create around journalism and media, the better. I think public service broadcasting has a key role in any nation's democracy. That's my view, a long term view. Some may say it's naive in some respects, but irrespective of what I might think, you know, of particular journalists, but I do think in a modern era, it is under threat."
Mr Martin said journalists should be paid better and that careers in journalism should be more attractive to students.
"I think we have to remunerate journalists better. If you're a young person in college, and you're aspiring to be a journalist, we've got to have a clear, meaningful career pathway for journalists. I would like to ringfence funding for the general fund for Investigative Journalism."
Mr Martin said the work is becoming "more authoritarian" and that we should be worried about some governments undermining the media. He said the importance of free independent journalism that is well resourced, but not patronised by government, should be made clear to the public
"That has never been more important given the proliferation of all sorts of sources of news and fake news and so on, on social media platforms," he said. "So that's my view. I think that's one mechanism I support. Others may have different options, and we'll await the outcome of the commission report."
