The Government has rejected Labour claims that its National Minimum Wage Bill is a "con". The Minister of State for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Mr Tom Kitt, said the Bill was a "genuine effort by the social partners to deal with the problem of low pay".

Speaking at the end of the debate on the Bill, which now goes to committee to deal with amendments, Mr Kitt said some 160,000 employees would benefit from the introduction of the national minimum wage of £4.40 an hour on April 1st.

Reiterating the comments of the Tanaiste, Ms Harney, who introduced the Bill on Wednesday, Mr Kitt said the legislation and the initial rate "strike the right balance to ensure employees are not exploited and that employment and competitiveness are not jeopardised".

However, Mr Eamon Gilmore (Lab, Dun Laoghaire) said the legislation was a " con" and one of the "most dishonest Bills to come before the House in a long time".

He said people were being told a minimum wage of £4.40 would be introduced. "In effect, the Bill does nothing of the kind, as the small print takes away whatever benefit there would have been in such a rate."

The definition of hours worked, he said, "includes holidays and any period of sick pay". It also included productivity payments such as piece rates, incentive rates commissions and bonuses, he added.

His party colleague, Ms Jan O'Sullivan, spokeswoman on equality and law reform, said that workers waiting for this legislation had been "sold a pig in a poke". She said the legislation would have to be amended if it was to be effective in guaranteeing the rights of the lowest-paid workers.

Mr Jimmy Deenihan (FG, Kerry North) said that while the Labour Party speakers had pointed out the Bill's deficiencies, "nevertheless it establishes an important principle. Given the economic situation, now is the time to introduce it. As recently as five years ago it would have been very difficult to do so, but the economy is now robust enough to take it."

Mr Dick Roche (FF, Wicklow) said the legislation "represents a break with the iron laws of supply and demand as a means of determining the rates at which a worker must be paid".

Ms Theresa Ahearn (FG, Tipperary South) said that women would be the major beneficiaries of the legislation. They had worked for a pittance and the provisions of the Bill would "protect them from having to struggle to work long hours to maintain a decent income for their families".

Mr Caoimhghin O Caolain (SF, Cavan-Monaghan) said the legislation was "the most obvious attempt to water down a measure which would rightly have had the widespread support of the general public. We have a minimum wage Bill but we do not have a fair minimum wage. We do not even have one minimum wage but a wage structure filled with caveats and conditions which create a series of lesser, paler imitations of a minimum wage."