Dr. Deirdre Curran:

I thank the Chairperson. I am delighted to be here. For the record, I am here in my capacity as an independent academic researcher reporting on research I have done that facilitates the voice of hospitality workers. I am not affiliated to, or funded by, any hospitality employer, body or trade union. I am simply here to report on the lived experience of hospitality workers through their own testimonies. My motives are, first, to give voice to hospitality workers and, second, to provoke a conversation that will lead to positive change. If there is one message I would leave with the committee in its search for answers regarding labour shortages, it is to find a way to give silenced hospitality workers a voice because they have a unique and critical perspective on what is wrong and how to make it right.

I will outline a couple of statistics. Some 68% of hospitality workers are paid less than the current living wage, 33% of them disagreed that the hours they work are acceptable, 62% do not get a Sunday premium, and 33% do not receive bank holiday pay. Those statistics are from Fáilte Ireland's own research. We are at a tipping point, if members will pardon the pun. We have had problems with hospitality conditions for years. Now that there is a labour shortage we have the attention of hospitality employers. I have listened very carefully to the contribution of hospitality employers and employers from the vintners' sector. While I agree with much of what they say, some of it is short-term, fracture-filling quick fixes. There are some things I have concerns about, such as permits to bring in non-EU workers or labour, or proposals to increase the tourism marketing fund.

While these may address short-term labour shortages, they will only contribute to the problem in the long term.

One of the research projects I am writing up is an in-depth exploration of why some hospitality workers chose to remain in the sector during the pandemic and why others chose to leave. Of the people with whom I spoke, approximately two thirds chose to stay while one third chose to leave. Of the ones who stayed, one third moved to different employers. The research consisted of an online survey, audio files and in-depth interviews. One of the questions asked was if the person was in front of a Government task force, what would he or she state were the challenges from his or her perspective. Here are a few of the challenges: being overworked and overwhelmed; working hours versus actual hours worked; post-pandemic insecurity of employment; having to compensate for untrained new recruits; bad behaviour from customers; and inflation. The participants were also asked for recommendations. The list of recommendations in my submission is really the answer to labour shortages. This is from actual hospitality workers. The recommendations include raising awareness and addressing bullying; giving staff sufficient rest; giving workers a voice; allowing wage progression; training managers; giving people additional benefits; and fair treatment and equality . The list goes on and is published in my brief. There are so many things that need to change. Hospitality workers know what these things are and how to change them but nobody is listening. Until we address those issues, we will not find a long-term solution to the labour shortage. Of the people with whom I spoke, only one had a job that met the features of decent work as per the International Labour Organization and this person does not work in Ireland. Most people will tell you that things have got worse post pandemic. If people left, it was a decision of the head rather than the heart.

Another piece of research I am doing is a case study of good practice. This involves a hotel that is claiming to offer a different and better employee proposition. The emerging findings look really good. If they are as good as they say they are, it will be an example of how you can treat people with dignity and respect, give them good working conditions and still make a very good profit. A colleague of mine, Maureen Maloney, and final-year students at NUI Galway produced a project on the lived experience of hospitality and retail workers. Six in ten agree with the statement "My work schedule is changed at short notice" while three in ten disagree with the statement "I receive adequate time for breaks at work". Six in ten got no sick pay if they were off work sick and three in ten said they had experienced or observed workplace abuse.

In 2019, I carried out an in-depth study of the working conditions of hospitality workers. The results were pretty depressing. This was pre pandemic. If anything, things have got worse since then. The survey I designed in 2019 has since been replicated all over the world in ten different countries so there will be a database of working conditions from all over the world on which we can all draw.

To summarise, my recommendations arising from empirical research including acting on the excellent recommendations of workers contributing to research, having an overarching national body monitoring and enforcing standards and providing CERT-type training and a Q mark of good practice, promoting ethical leadership, a targeted Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, inspection campaign and investing in training over marketing. Going into secondary schools and marketing hospitality as a great place to work is clearly not true and the money should be invested in making it a great place to work. One of the last two recommendations involves having proper apprenticeships. I am very much in favour of apprenticeships but they must include education on employment rights, how to protect yourself if something bad happens and resilience.

My final recommendation involves creating a platform for worker voice. I urge members to use their influence to address the problems in hospitality that were here long before the pandemic in terms of working conditions, employee voice and low pay. If we clean up the industry, and people who work there want to stay there, we can make it a place where they can stay and feel valued.