Labour and Immigration Minister Derrick Burgess has given support to a minimum wage after blasting employers for exploiting low-wage foreigners rather than hiring locals.

But he said it would have to be at least $18 an hour for it to be workable.

He said: "If you look at the cost of living in Bermuda it's very high.

"You can't make a minimum wage which is eight dollars an hour. You can't afford to live on eight dollars an hour.

"Today if you are talking about a minimum wage you are going to have to be looking at $18 a hour when you take into consideration of the cost of living. And that is struggling."

Asked if it should be higher he said a minimum wage of $22-25 an hour was fairer but politically unobtainable.

He said: "We are the Government. Do you think that is going to happen? We are not here to dictate.

"We have to work in co-operation with the private sector. Do you think we are going to get an agreement on that? No, that is not going to happen. I wish we could."

Mr. Burgess said other high-cost jurisdictions didn't have a minimum wage and it was no use comparing Bermuda with the States where the minimum wage was $5.30 and therefore unrealistic here.

Recently both Attorney General Phil Perinchief and Coalition for the Protection of Children executive director Sheelagh Cooper said a minimum wage was necessary to tackle poverty.

Opposition Finance spokeswoman Pat Gordon-Pamplin said the United Bermuda Party did not have a position on the minimum wage but were due to discuss it last night.

But Bermuda Employers Council president William DeSilva said he didn't believe there was a need for it.

He said: "If you look historically at Bermuda it is one of the wealthiest economies in the world per capita, we seem to only trail the oil producing states.

"We have very low unemployment and we have 9,000-plus work permit holders. If you have over-employment and all those factors it doesn't seem to me a requirement for a minimum wage."

But Mr. Burgess said foreign workers were exploited by being made to work long hours at low pay with some sleeping in shifts in cramped conditions.

"We don't know the conditions folks are working under but we will be looking at in the future when you are bringing people in ? what are you paying them? "Because many times you will put an advert in the paper, say for a waitress and the Bermudian will go and apply for the job and they can do it.

"But when they are told the pay they say 'I can't work for that'.

"Sometimes I think low wages are deliberately offered knowing the Bermudian will say no and then the employer will write to Immigration and say they can't get Bermudians, so they bring in a foreigner and pay that rate.

"We haven't had evidence submitted to us in writing that this is what happens.

"That's why we encourage Bermudians to let us know if this is the case so we can take steps to sort that out."

He said high housing costs were a major factor fuelling poverty but he said greed was to blame for some of the high construction prices.

"It is armed robbery what they are charging for per square foot to build a house or a building.

"When you compare our prices to some other parts of the world it is out of whack. It's greed because of the boom we have here."

But he said there would soon be some easing of the pressure on housing.

He said the rules had been changed in 2003 to stop the automatic right for work permit holders to bring in their spouse and up to two children.

"We stopped that, particularly in the low income areas where they are competing with Bermudians for housing.

"That will thin out, very shortly ? 2007 and 2008 where the six-year limit for work permit holders will be up and they will be asked to leave. That should lessen the demand for housing."