Business and employer groups will be giving their views to the Dail Jobs Committee later on increasing the national minimum wage.

TDs and Senators will be discussing a "living wage" for workers as a means of reducing the reliance on social welfare, and for driving further economic growth.

Last month, the trade union SIPTU said it would seek a minimum living wage of €11.45 per hour.

The current minimum wage here stands at €8.65 per hour.

SIPTU president, Jack O'Connor, has said that his union is embarking on a "major campaign" for pay increases of 5% across the economy.

However, employers group IBEC said many companies remain in survival mode - and that keeping costs under control is vital to sustaining existing employment and creating new jobs.

IBEC said suggestions that either business or government could afford to award 5% pay rises this year were "reckless, foolish and utterly detached from economic reality."

Chair of the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation - Marcella Corcoran-Kennedy - says a living wage is important for workers and the economy.