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

I apologise for missing the first few minutes of the meeting. I was speaking in the Chamber. I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I had a chance to read them prior to the meeting. I echo what has been said. There is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. The fact we are all speaking about this is good. We need to be clear about what we are speaking about. We are not talking about the capacity to do all of the work in a shorter space of time. I do not think that would necessarily create benefits. It would disproportionately impact on workers who are not of a high rank. There have to be benefits to this. We need to look at what those benefits are and how we can maximise them. I want to put on the record that it is very regrettable that a member of the committee used the phrase "taking the piss". We do not need to introduce that concept. Workers are mature enough, as are employers, to be able to have this discussion like adults and to work out something that works for everyone. Workers do not want to put their bosses out of business. Of course they do not.

I want to refer briefly to a World Health Organization study published earlier this year. It found that long working hours are literally killing people. It found that 745,000 people died in 2016 from stroke and heart disease due to excessive hours. Perhaps Mr. Barnes will be able to address this question. Benefits for workers are consequent benefits to employers because if workers are healthy, fit and well they will be more productive. There is no value to an employer working a worker to death and no one would suggest there is. Perhaps Mr. Barnes will speak to us about the international examples of the benefits. I am specifically referring to the health benefits. They are as important as the other issues we have been discussing.