Increasing the minimum wage will not help households trapped in poverty, according to the ESRI.

The Institute published a report this morning which shows the number of low paid workers in Ireland is on the rise.

There have been recent calls for the government to raise the minimum wage to €11.50 an hour.

But Tim Callan from the ESRI has said research shows this will not help many people: “Don’t expect that minimum wage increases are going to do much for household poverty.

“Make decisions on that on other grounds instead, there are many other reasons why one might want to consider increasing the minimum wage and the low pay commissioner will be looking at that.

“But one should not be expecting it to have a major impact on poverty.”