PAYDAY.. Fermanagh has the lowest average wages in Northern Ireland
FERMANAGH workers receive the worst average pay in Northern Ireland – some £3,000 less than the median salary.
The worrying figures casts light on the difference workers in the Fermanagh and South Tyrone constituency are paid compared to other areas in the North.
Local people are paid an estimated average of £15,853, before tax each year, more than £7,000 less than residents in south Belfast.
These figures place local wages at the bottom of the average earnings list in the North.
All of the average earnings in constituencies west of the Bann are below the north’s median salary of £18,764.
Neighbouring constituency, West Tyrone, earns an average £17,066, meaning that workers who live just over the county border earn around £1,500 more a year than Fermanagh workers.
Sinn Fein MLA Phil Flanagan for Fermanagh and South Tyrone claimed that there are more people in poverty who are working than those who are out of work.
“Not only are these statistics concerning for the fact that so many people are in low paid jobs, but there is a whole range of other issues affecting workers such as zero hour contracts and underemployment.
“The average worker is now heavily reliant on the state to top-up their salary through the tax credit system as a result of the extent of low-paid jobs.
“These figures once again highlight the growing disparity in economic prosperity in different areas across the north. As is historically the case, areas along the border have not received the same levels of investment as other parts of the north and this is reflected in the average salaries of people who live in border counties.
“I am personally appalled that workers in Fermanagh and South Tyrone are paid, on average, much less than those in every other constituency.
“Invest NI must be challenged to do more in terms of tackling economic regional disparities. This should be a political approach to this problem with sub-regional targets being set for Invest NI with regards to future job creation, investment figures and focusing support for those employers that pay workers a living wage.”
He also raised the issue surrounding the G8 which was held in the Lough Erne Resort in June 2013. Around £92 million was spent hosting some the world’s political leaders.
The Sinn Fein representative stated that Fermanagh has seen “little or no economic benefit” following the huge event.
He added: “Based on the salaries people locally earn, this huge sum of money could have put 5,800 people into employment for a year and I would certainly argue that such an initiative would have been much better for the area economically than wasting it on massaging the egos of those involved in the G8.”
The figures came to light after TUV leader, Jim Allister, tabled a question at the assembly in relation to full and part-time workers.
These estimates have been soured from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earning at April 2014 and exclude benefits.
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