Irish workers need to earn a minimum of €11.50 an hour to have an acceptable standard of living, according to new research.

The five cent increase in the 'Living Wage' is being recommended by an expert group to reflect the growing Irish economy.

It adds that during the past year reductions in the cost of health insurance, lower transport costs, cheaper energy costs and falling food prices all put downward pressure on the Living Wage.

"The reduction in the USC in the last budget had a similar effect. However, these effects were overshadowed by increases in housing costs, more expensive household goods and services and higher car insurance," the group says.

It adds that rising rents, in particular in Dublin, were the main driver of the hourly increase.

The 'Living Wage' is an attempt to calculate how much an employee working full time needs to earn to meet this agreed minimum standard of living, and it has increased again this year.

Dr Micheál Collins of the Living Wage Group and Fergal O'Brien of IBEC outlined their arguments to Newstalk Breakfast.

A recent OECD report found that Ireland has the fourth highest minimum wage in the world.

"A half-time (minimum wage) job in Australia, Ireland and the United Kingdom can be sufficient to take a family with two children out of poverty," it said.

But it also warned that "in most countries, a single full-time (minimum wage) job leaves two parent families below the poverty line and employment of both parents is needed to ensure that children do not grow up in poverty".

It put us behind Australia, Luxembourg and Belgium in terms of hourly minimum wage - but above France, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

We also beat out many of our larger neighbours - including Germany, Canada the UK and the US.