Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with the comments made by the Chairman. Everybody involved in the committee who has listened to the delegates recognises that there is a massive problem with if-and-when and low-hour contracts. I thank Deputy David Cullinane for his Bill which is very progressive. He has come back to what he said on the first day that he was open to amendments. A number of issues were raised by previous delegates. Some were genuine, but I think others were not. I agree with the comment made by Deputy david Cullinane that the employers' groups had done themselves no favours. I said it to them myself. They said they had a lot of problems with the Bill, but they had come with no solutions to how they would fix them.

I specifically want to mention four issues on which Deputy David Cullinane said he was open to change. One is the display. Some of the employers' organisations turned it into a massive problem, as though they would have to have translators in each company or business to make signs. They complicated something that was not that complicated. The words the Deputy used were not the ones they were using either. I welcome his clarification in that regard.

A timeframe of nine months is probably a change with which most of us could agree. The Deputy had inserted a figure of six months in the Bill. ICTU was looking for a longer timeframe. I know that Mandate also wanted a period of six months. I hope a timeframe of nine months might be acceptable to most of us.

The Deputy clarified that he would change the word "exceeds" to "reflects", which is good. It was causing a lot of concern for some. I am particularly pleased also that the Deputy said he would come back with a formula of words to deal with the financial difficulties of employers. I wanted to make a quick comment on it. I again thank the Deputy for his presentation.