The Junior Finance Minister says small businesses will be supported in the next budget if there is an increase in the minimum wage.

It's believed that the Low Pay Commission will this week recommend that the hourly minimum wage be increased by 50c, to €9.15.

The report is due to be released on Tuesday.

There has been a mixed response to the potential increase, with business groups saying companies can't afford it, and Sinn Fein saying a 50c increase isn't enough.

Minister of State at the Departments of Finance and Public Expenditure and Reform Simon Harris, says small businesses shouldn't be expected to bear the cost of wage increases on their own:

Sinn Féin says that the possible increase will only amount to €19.50 extra for a 39-hour week for an employee on minimum wage.

The party's Spokesperson for Jobs, Enterprise, and Innovation, Peadar Tóibín, said "the Low Pay Commission could have been so much more. It could have raised the Minimum Wage by €1 an hour.

"It could have been extended to include the wage share of national income, the role of wages as source of demand and also the damaging economic and social effect of high levels of low pay.

"It could also have been designed to monitor and enforce the law with regards the minimum wage."

Meanwhile the group representing restaurant owners wants to see reforms to the Universal Social Charge instead of an increase to the minimum wage.

The Restaurants Association of Ireland says businesses in the sector cannot afford to increase wages.

Adrian Cummins is the Chief Executive of the Restaurants Association of Ireland, and says the Government should lower the rate of USC paid by workers on low pay: