Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Any good employer would implement this provision. It does not have to be part of legislation. There is the existing corpus of employees. Employers know who they are and the hours they work. As Deputy Clare Daly said, the extra hours are critical for those who need them to survive. It is not a matter of taking out a mortgage or anything else but of putting bread on the table. It is so obvious that one anticipate that employers would not have to be compelled to do it or think along the lines of doing something else. This is a reasonable amendment, but it would be hard to police as large employers can construct all sorts of excuse for why they are not doing something. However, if they have work available, surely somebody who is already working 15, 18 or 20 hours could be given an extra five or six hours that would be critical to his or her well-being and economic capacity to earn a livelihood? This provision should be inserted into legislation. The Minister spoke about guiding employers with a stick. This might be similar. It would be instructive on how we view this matter from inside the Oireachtas as regards what has been ongoing for a number of years.