Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Tuesday, 23 May 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Banded Hours Contract Bill 2016: Discussion (Resumed)

3:30 pm

Photo of Pat BreenPat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We have already had employment professionals here today talking about the possibility that Sinn Féin's Bill is unconstitutional. We are not the only one. These are experts who came in here today saying that. We want to be helpful in this. I would say that to the Senator. He raised this in the Chamber last year in a Private Member's Bill. We sent it here to the committee to be dealt with but we have taken time to look at his Bill and it is flawed. Why would we make bad legislation? Why would we take the time over the last 12 months to prepare legislation in regard to low hours and zero hours and banded hours without the assistance of the professionals we have? We had the main players involved with this as well, we took submissions - there are 48 submissions - in regard to the Bill. We believe it is good legislation. It is gone to the Office of the Attorney General, it will be drafted and hopefully come back for the Government's approval, which will probably happen in the next few months. On the question of the Irish and English language and the other languages which may be used, once that is put into a Bill, one can take any interpretation one likes out of it.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.