Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will respond to both amendments together. To require employers to provide a written statement on the core terms before commencement of employment would have implications in a number of areas. The Bill seeks to protect the employment relationship between a new employee and the employer. The Bill has been a long time in the making and has been based on co-operation between all parties and us. We need to respect the amount of work and extensive consultation that has gone in to shaping it which obviously includes the University of Limerick study that was commissioned by Senator Nash when he was in this role. It included detailed discussions with the ICTU, IBEC and all the relevant bodies. We have all heard and reflected upon their reaction to what I believe is a very significant change from the practice we have at the moment. We are going from potentially two months down to five days.

The amendment could give rise to some possible unintended consequences. For example, a person could apply for a job that they potentially had no intention of ever taking up and seek compensation for not being given a written statement of their terms of contract before they started. Providing the essential terms of employment by the fifth day is new. It will be an administrative burden, but employers will have to learn to live with it given that so many people have not been given their terms of employment within the current required two months.

Before an employee even starts work and before that employer-employee relationship begins, it would be too onerous with the risk of unintended consequences to accept this amendment. If the Deputy's amendment were accepted, it would make it very burdensome for any employers to take on new employees. I ask Deputies to remember that we are moving the requirement on employers from two months to five days. We are moving it to five days and making it a criminal offence, despite the objection of many employers organisations, because I feel very strongly, as I know the Deputy does, that within the first couple of days of forming that relationship, the most basic piece of information that employees are entitled to should be taken seriously by employers in their obligation to their employees. Having a criminal penalty if they do not produce that information within five days of somebody starting is sufficient to ensure we get what we all want out of the Bill. I ask people not to accept these amendments.