Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the Deputy. We have done a number of things to try to protect workers. We increased the minimum wage, which was one of the first steps taken when we returned to office. The courts struck down the Joint Labour Committees and Registered Employment Agreements, but we have already passed legislation on JLCs and we will be reinstating the REAs. We also introduced agency worker legislation based on EU provisions.

It is not true that most of the jobs are precarious and low paid. The reality is that the recovery is now broad based. The Deputy's colleague, Deputy Finian McGrath, complained earlier that all the jobs were for high flyers and that there were no jobs at modest levels.

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