Ireland plans for 'living wage' to replace minimum wage

DUBLIN (Reuters) - The Irish government on Tuesday said it plans to replace the current minimum wage with a new 'living wage' that will be set at 60% of the median wage in any given year.

The proposal to replace the minimum wage will be phased in over four years and would result in a living wage of 12.17 euros an hour, if calculated based on this year's median wage.

The current minimum wage is 10.50 euros per hour.

Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told national broadcaster RTE that the country was almost at full employment and his government wants to "make work pay".

"Whether you get up in the morning, or you work late at night, we want you to be paid more."

He said preparations would begin shortly on implementing the living wage so that its introduction could start from next January.

(Reporting by Graham Fahy; editing by Jason Neely)