John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To be fair to the Minister, she did not rule the amendments out of order. I will give the explanation, if it is of any assistance.

Amendment No. 7 in the name of Deputy Willie O'Dea, amendment No. 8 in the name of Deputy John Brady and amendment No. 9 in the name of Deputy Willie Penrose propose to insert a new provision in section 6 of the Bill to provide that normal hours of work per working week for an individual would be not less than three hours. Section 6 introduces the requirement that an employer must provide employees with a written statement containing five core terms within five days of the commencement of employment. It does not deal with the laying down of a minimum requirement in respect of the number hours of work to be provided by an employer. Not every job requires a minimum of three hours per week for 52 weeks of the year. Requiring the State, as an employer, to guarantee a minimum of three hours' work per week per employee, for example, for substitute teachers, would have the potential to impose a charge on Revenue. Therefore, the amendments must be ruled out of order in accordance with Standing Order 179( 3). That is the explanation. It is not the Minister's ruling, notwithstanding the points made. We cannot discuss the amendments, but Deputy John Brady may make a quick comment.