Mr. Denis Hynes:

I echo everything that my colleagues have said about the WRC and great work is being done by the National Employment Rights Authority. Again, if there is a willingness by the employer's side then in most cases a solution will be found. I hope that the tips legislation will go through later this afternoon. The legislation is welcome and I am delighted with it. All of us have worked very hard on the issue for more than a decade and it is great to see this happen.

I shall briefly reply to Senator Gavan who asked what would fix the JLC and my answer is that people should consider what caused the veto.

Dublin and Cork were seen as having traditionally higher paid earners working in hospitality, so Dublin and Cork were excluded from the JLC. That is what caused the veto. That is what happened in the High Court. If Dublin and Cork were included in a new JLC, that would solve that problem. The figures Fáilte Ireland gave - it was not me or SIPTU or anyone else here - are reflective of people working in hospitality in Dublin and Cork as much as anywhere in rural Ireland.