David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

There is none because there is no right to request to be placed on a banded hours contract. They are not recognised in law. What we have is a voluntary arrangement with some employers - I have given some examples - negotiated with the trade unions. In the past they operated low-hour contracts under which some of their employees were to work ten or 15 hours contracts, but they ended up doing more. Folloiwng negotiations with the trade unions, they have now moved to banded hours on a voluntary basis. The short answer to the question is that an employee has no right to request that he or she be moved into a band reflective of the hours he or she works. That is the primary reason we are introducing the Bill. If it was passed, an employee would be able to take a case to the Workplace Relations Commission.

There are data available from EUROSTAT and the Central Statistics Office which indicate that one in five workers, or 20%, are in low paid jobs. There are some data available for if-and-when contracts, including in the the University of Limerick study, but they are quite light. That raises an issue about the level of interest of the State in dealing with the issue. One of the good things about the University of Limerick study is that it does shine a spotlight on it. The Mandate trade union has also carried out some research and its own study. I do not have the figures to hand, but we can get them. I am sure Teachta Niall Collins, as a Teachta representing workers, has received representations from people involved in different sectors, not just the retail sector, who are victims of the abuse of low-hour contracts. I take the point on the lack of data and think the Government agencies need to do more work to provide us with the detail which would help the committee to do its work. I am also hoping we will hear from the trade union representative groups, as well as the employer groups.