Ms Lorraine Higgins:

It is very important to discuss this issue, of that there is no doubt. We have seen the highly publicised cases where some unscrupulous employers have acted very badly and wrongly when it came to their employees, but, as I pointed out in my submission, they are very much in the minority and on the periphery. More critically, more research was required when it came to presenting this Bill because research is very much the steering wheel of every issue. Unless we have research it is very difficult to drive an issue and to draft balanced legislation in the circumstances. Further consultation with employer groups before the legislation was brought forward would have provided an opportunity for all of us to put forward our proposals, think things through and brainstorm to come up solutions in those marginal examples of cases where employers have exploited their staff.

Furthermore, the word "uncertainty" has been used a good deal. There is no worse industry for uncertainty than the small business sector. I pointed out that there is a huge degree of uncertainty surrounding the retail industry. We saw that from the December figures with the consumer sentiment being down. Many small business people have restructured through examinership and so on during the recessionary period. They have cut costs as much as they can. They might not have created jobs but they saved a great number of jobs in this country over the course of the recession and people need to be mindful of that. Businesses have the same challenges as some employees in terms of uncertain hours. I mention the impact of President Trump's policies and of Brexit, of which nobody knows what will be the fallout. Many businesses plan in terms of longer-term contingencies. We must recognise the nature of doing business in this country in the circumstances. This is a very important issue to discuss but we would like a more balanced approach to be taken as a consequence of that and not a rush to enact legislation that might have unintended consequences beyond what is expected.