Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree those sectors that are not unionised are the most vulnerable and the best defence against that is to join a trade union and be active in it. I encourage workers to do that. It would be helpful if a deadline was set. It is a complicated area. The chances are that the report will present a range of options, a little like the Duffy Cahill report did. A conversation will then stem from the report. There is a need for this work to be done and I appreciate that the Tánaiste has recognised that. Without a deadline, I would be concerned that this work will drift. It is necessary and important work, and a deadline would help to focus people's minds.

The Tánaiste referred to the code of practice on the right to disconnect. It is only a code of practice and no one has the right to disconnect. To vindicate that right, one must go to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC. As the Tánaiste knows, there are delays involved in going to the WRC, some of which relate to personnel and some of which are Covid-19-related. Even before Covid, going back a number of years, I remember that one could be left waiting for anything up to a year. Workers are being tormented when their phones keep beeping and they cannot get away from work. Addressing that will, effectively, be delayed by another year because those workers have to go to the WRC. I know the Tánaiste has talked about funding and the achievements of the commission in the report, which is welcome. The WRC will be provided with a gross allocation of €15.405 million for 2021. Is it going to get additional funding under these Estimates to recruit additional inspectors? Figures given to me show that €18 million in wages has been withheld since 2011. That is not being withheld from people with big money. Those figures possibly comprise modest enough sums to each individual but massive sums in terms of the overall budget. We know the WRC does good work but we also know there are delays. It is grand once a case goes before the WRC but the delay in access and the lack of inspectors are the problem. With the level of inspectors there has been over the past ten years, €18 million has been recovered. The chances are that is the tip of the iceberg. The inspectors cannot be in every workplace but it seems that where they do inspect, they find that a high level of companies inspected in one year, nearly 50%, were guilty of breaches of employment law. Will funding be provided specifically for additional inspectors? The Tánaiste and I have discussed this matter on the floor of the Dáil in the past. Will there be funding for additional inspectors and does the Tánaiste have a figure in his mind? He knows that I want to see an additional 90 inspectors, as was agreed under Towards 2016. I appreciate that agreement was a long time ago but the world of work has not changed. If anything, there is more need for inspectors. Is funding going to be available specifically for inspectors? They do fantastic work.