John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I share all of those concerns and ask that a report would be forthcoming on the matter. Subsection (3) of the amendment deals with the jobseeker's allowance and the three-day rule. That rule is causing enormous difficulties as the Minister will be aware. It is very problematic in the context of zero-hour and low-hour contracts in the workplace. There have been some very high-profile examples of this in recent times, including at Dunnes Stores. The staff of that company went to court over the issue. Many employees were working very low numbers of hours over the course of a week and because they were only working a three-day week, they were not entitled to jobseeker's payments. I support this amendment and ask the Minister to ensure that a comprehensive report on the issue be provided. This is a matter to which we must return in the future. The way to deal with it is to enact legislation on zero-hour contracts but, unfortunately, the Sinn Féin Bill on the matter that was put before the House was opposed by a number of the parties. That Bill would have gone a long way towards addressing the issue. That said, I support the amendment and ask that a report is provided on qualifying criteria.