Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for being late. I am very aware that this conversation is going in one direction, namely, that the industry wants to define what is a service charge. The witnesses have made up their minds that the definition of a service charges is a contract between the business and the customer. The worker, the person who delivers the service which has to be delivered by somebody, has been completely excluded. The customer cannot write something down and say he or she will pay for it because something has to be delivered. Service means a human being intervening to help or deliver the service, which is always understood. It is beyond me that the industry is seeking to redefine what service charge means. It has always been understood that it is for the person delivering the service. The industry has redefined what a service charge is. The Bill proposes to legislate in the area of gratuities and tips given to workers while excluding service charges. It goes beyond the industry's remit that it gets to define service charges. In which legislation or regulation is a service charge defined as a contract between a business and a customer, as the witness claimed, with the person who delivers the service being completely left out?