Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State and welcome him and his comments, in particular those on the if-and-when hours contracts and their precedents in the 1950s and 1960s. There has been a great deal of criticism of the report by business organisations, which is to be expected, but also from many Government organisations. For example, the Department of Education and Skills and, in particular, the HSE have been damning of it in their public comments. How would the Minister of State react to these criticisms?

There is also a concern among some employer groups that the collection of the data which informed the report has aged, with some of the figures dating back to 2010. The groups cite the use of the CSO household survey, which does not pick up any information on the prevalence of various kinds of contract. Will the Minister of State respond to this point?

It is important that we put robust safeguards in place, as a small minority of employers are undoubtedly exploiting employees. We see it every day from the cases that come to our offices. The Minister of State is well used to the issue from his previous life. However, were we to implement the report's recommendations, where would we lie in terms of international competition and how would we compare with our EU neighbours, given their regulations and protections? The Minister of State cannot speak for private employers but I assume the report was discussed by the Government before it was published by the Cabinet. What would be the cost of implementing its recommendations to, for example, the Department of Education and Skills and the HSE?