Mr. Denis Hynes:

I am already eating into that time, trying to set up my computer. We in SIPTU thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before it today to discuss concerns in the hospitality sector. During the pandemic, we began to appreciate the role of workers in these key essential areas. We are only too aware of the working poor, their poor working conditions, and the precarious contracts and lack of safety that currently exist in the hospitality sector.

I will turn to consider profit and the growth of wages. The financial recession hit the hospitality sector hard, as we all know. However, starting in 2011 and 2012, the sector began to recover. The Government took stimulus measures, including reducing VAT. While foreign tourism has now increased, we see no support returning for workers

The impact of the pandemic has meant that many hospitality businesses are claiming staff shortages from kitchen porters, floor staff, chefs, housekeepers and receptionists. Bord Fáilte has estimated that over 80% of tourism and hospitality businesses are having trouble recruiting staff. According to the State agency, the main barriers to recruitment and retention are low wages, a loss of international staff and the quality of the job. The number one barrier reported to Bord Fáilte was the perception that the pandemic unemployment payment, PUP, was a disincentive to taking up a job. However, there is little evidence to support this. The peak of the PUP was February 2021, when 112,000 people were availing of it. The number of people availing of the payment dropped to 28,000 in September 2021, a reduction of 84,000 since February. There is, therefore, little evidence, other than anecdotal evidence, to support the allegation that the PUP was acting as a disincentive.

The issue of staff shortages and the impact they are having on the sector dates back to before the pandemic. The Restaurants Association of Ireland, RAI, referred to this before the Oireachtas committee in 2019. In 2017, the Irish Hotels Federation, IHF, was warning of the challenge of retaining staff. Back in late 2015, a report of the Department with responsibility for jobs highlighted that Ireland was already facing staff shortages in the sector.

JLCs are the future. They are the mechanism for fixing statutory minimum rate of pay and conditions of employment for particular employees in particular sectors. We in the hospitality sector need them now more than ever before. The rationale for JLCs is to protect both workers and good employers to ensure that businesses and living standards benefit from a condition of progress rather than progressive degeneration.

To address the issues of low pay, poor working conditions and low productivity in the hospitality sector, and the significant turnover of workers, SIPTU has written to the chair of the Labour Court requesting that the JLCs in the restaurant and hotel sectors are convened. SIPTU has further written to the two main employers organisations, the IHF and the RAI, informing them of this and requesting that they respond positively to our request.

Hospitality requires better training for all staff, wages and progression and work-life balance initiatives. Those things can only be achieved if all stakeholders work together with vision and commitment to find a good and safe future for hospitality.