THE roar of the Celtic Tiger had a hollow ring for women toiling in corner shops for £1.20 an hour or for young people serving in busy lounge bars for a fiver a night, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions said yesterday. Reacting to the ESRI's medium term review, Congress said the "scandal of low pay" should be addressed by declaring a minimum wade.

"The rates of pay being offered by some employers to workers, especially women and young people are immoral," said Ms Patricia O'Donovan, the organisation's assistant general secretary. They also gave these tight fisted employers a grossly unfair advantage in undercutting fair minded employers.

"Low wages cause poverty and their continuation excludes thousands of families from the benefits of our economic boom," she added,

Mr Jimmy Somers, the new president of SIPTU, the country's largest trade union, said he welcomed the positive predictions of the report. "But unless employer greed is addressed and real partnership involving a fair distribution of wealth is created urgently, the boom that might have lasted two more decades will turn very sour," Mr Somers added.

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprises Association said that the ESRI had ignored the burden of excessive pay awards in the public sector, which was being shouldered by SMEs.

"The public sector, big business and the banks have all done well from the three national wage agreements and are content with Partnership 2000. They can pass costs on," said Mr Frank Mulcahy, chief executive of ISME.