The government raises the national minimum wage from €10.30 to €11.30 per hour as of January 1, 2023. This will be followed by additional gradual increases to the national minimum wage until it reaches 60% of the hourly median wage.
The government stated that the goal is to no longer have a national minimum wage by 2026 and instead will equalize the national living wage for all employees.
According to the announcement, the national minimum wage is expected to increase to €13.10 per hour by 2026.
The employee category and hourly rates are listed below.
Category of employee Hourly rate
Aged 20 and above €11.30
Aged 19 €10.17
Aged 18 €9.04
Aged under 18 €7.91
In order to ensure that the increase in the minimum wage does not result in employers attracting a higher level of PRSI charge solely due to this increase, the employer PRSI threshold increases from €410 to €441 on 1 January 2023.
The National Minimum Wage applies to most employees. It is the minimum hourly pay rate that must be paid. It applies to full-time, part-time, temporary, casual employees, and seasonal workers.
The following categories of employees are excluded:
- Employees who are close relatives of the employer, where the employer is a Sole Trader, such as a spouse, civil partner, parent, step-parent, grandparent, child, step-child, grandchild, sibling, or half-sibling of the employer.
- A craft apprentice within the meaning of the Industrial Training Act, 1967, or the Labour of Services Act, 1987.