Dr. Deirdre Curran:

In the research I have done, there are many testimonies from employees about ill-treatment. I have heard about everything from verbal abuse to physical abuse and downright assault in the workplace. In my testimony, there is a story of a girl who burned her face dramatically and significantly with a soup gun, and was expected to go straight back to work. She ended up having to have plastic surgery. There is a lot of evidence. We need to hear the human stories behind the statistics and that is why I say to Deputy Munster that we need more research to give voice to workers.

I do want to say that today is a great day for hospitality workers because the tips Bill includes service charges. That was heavily lobbied for by me and Ms Julia Marciniak, who could not be with us today because she is on sick leave. She is a Trojan advocate for hospitality workers. I did not want to let the opportunity pass without mentioning her name.