John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That was certainly very interesting. What are the Minister's views on it? While the figure is growing every year, the 35,000 figure was only provided recently by the Department. It grows every year, but not at that rate. Where has the figure come from? It is a matter of concern.

The Minister said she hopes to bring forward the employment (miscellaneous provisions) Bill before Christmas and to start the legislative process. Deputy Joan Collins referred to a Bill which my colleague, Deputy Cullinane, brought forward and which went through a rigorous procedure before the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, as it was then known. Unfortunately, that Bill is now parked and waiting on a money message. In her response to Deputy Joan Collins, the Minister said she would do everything she could to ensure that Opposition legislation is advanced. It seems, however, that many Opposition Bills are on the shelf waiting for money messages. If the Minister is sincere in what she says, I ask her to use her office to help to progress Opposition legislation because Deputy Cullinane's Bill will deal with the zero-hour and banded hours contracts she talks about in the context of her legislation. Said Bill has gone through a rigorous procedure in committee. It received cross-party support at the joint committee and numerous amendments were recommended which will enhance and strengthen the Bill. There was input from all of the trade unions as well as from legal experts and all of that has been taken on board. As such, I ask the Minister to look at the Bill and to advance it.

I am a little bit confused about the Minister's Bill. In the first instance, she says it is about protecting low-paid and vulnerable employees and, in the next, she says it aims to prohibit zero-hour contracts in most circumstances. Can she explain what the term "most circumstances" means in that context? If she is only intending to ban zero-hour contracts in most circumstances, she is not banning them. The problem will still be there. To ban them for some employees but not others makes no sense. The heads of the Bill state that it will ban zero-hour contracts yet it creates exemptions if work is of a casual nature. The Minister will be well aware that zero-hour contracts are casual. That is the problem.

The Minister would be well aware that zero-hour contracts are casual. That is the essence of the problem. Can the Minister explain that because it does not make sense to me?

I asked the Minister about head 8 of the Bill when she was here previously and she was not able to answer. Head 8 proposes that an employee can seek redress from the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. Would I be right in saying that is within the Labour Court? That head will make it an offence for an employer to ignore the Labour Court's ruling. I presume I am right about that. The Labour Court will make a ruling on a point of law that it does not have the power to make because it is not a real court.