Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said that he is ''very much'' worth his salary of around €3,500 per week.

He was asked about his pay level at the launch of the Government’s Low Pay Commission to advise on the minimum wage.

The eight-person Commission will report back in July.

The Taoiseach said that the current rate of €8.65 per hour will be changed "incrementally" over time.

When he was asked: "Are you actually worth three-and-a-half grand a week?" the Taoiseach responded: "Very much so.

He added: "Salaries are down by 40% in the case of the Taoisigh - we've cut everything to the bone."

Business group IBEC stated that it although it welcomes the introduction of the Commission, there is currently no basis for altering minimum wage.

“At the moment we would say that there’s no justification, on the basis that recent cost-of-living trends, along with the inflation outlook for 2015, would indicate that there is not justification for an increase in the national minimum wage,” said head of industrial relations Maeve McElwee.

“At the current point in time we would see that the national minimum wage is actually still 20% higher in real value terms than when it was introduced in 2000.”