A follow-up study on the impact of the minimum wage in Ireland

The National Minimum Wage was introduced in Ireland in April 2000. A survey of firms was carried out by the ESRI prior to introduction, and for the present study, commissioned by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment, a further survey was carried out in late 2000/early 2001. This interviewed both a substantial proportion of the firms in the earlier sample – for whom the situation “before and after” the minimum wage can be directly compared – and significant numbers of other firms. In this report the results from these surveys are used to assess the impact of the minimum wage on employment, wage levels and other aspects of work organization among Irish firms.