Mr. John King:

I will try to avoid being repetitive. When the VAT rate was introduced in 2011, it was a time when evidence from the CSO suggested the sector had turned a corner.

Employment was starting to grow and there was an increased number of tourists. There is no great evidence that the VAT reduction was passed on to any significant extent by way of price reduction, and we certainly know that the employees did not benefit from it. This was introduced at the same time that the sectors were able to benefit from the reduced employers PRSI rate, where their employees earned less than €356. That is what led to a lot of the boom in employment. When one digs down into those figures, one can see that a lot of the growth in employment in the industries within those particular timeframes was in part-time employment.

To recap, what I say is somewhat repetitive in relation to what Mr. Taft said in that where industries or sectors are able to avail of favourable Government policy, they should, equally, be required to comply with Government policy in relation to other matters. I remind the committee that by not co-operating with this piece of Oireachtas policy, they are actually bringing the Irish State into disrepute with a signed International Labour Organization, ILO, convention relating to workers in hotels, restaurants and similar establishments, which states the best method to determine rights for workers in these industries is by way of a collective bargained agreement. I put it to the Oireachtas that within the ILO there is specific reference to the development of skills and so on in the hospitality sector. Since the collapse of the joint labour committee, JLC, system, the majority of pay rates have fallen to €8.65 an hour. It is not surprising to us but it might be surprising to the committee that at the same time the employers are saying they do not want to pay any more than €8.65 an hour and they do not want the JLC, they are the apprenticeship commission bemoaning the fact that they cannot attract good calibre craftspeople such as chefs into the industry. That is no wonder considering they will not agree to engage in order to pay them a decent wage with decent conditions of employment.

On the point about the Labour Court being guided, the system of industrial relations in Ireland under the 1946 Act is based on voluntarism. The 1946 Act provides the basis for the joint labour committee system. The intent of it is that it produces what is known as an employment regulation order, ERO, which is a legally binding document. At the start of the process, the initial engagement is voluntary. What we are saying is that there are other aspects of industrial relations in this jurisdiction that specify that where an employer refuses to engage voluntarily, the Labour Court is guided to be able to deal with the issue. I will outline two references in that regard. For instance, under the Industrial Relations Act 1969, if a union requests a meeting with an employer and it refuses to engage, the union can refer the matter to the Labour Court under section 20(1) and the Labour Court will hear the case whether the employer shows up. The employer is invited to participate and will be asked for his or her views or opinions and to make a submission, but the Labour Court is guided to deal with the issue if the employer refuses to engage voluntarily. That means the employees get an opportunity to at least have their case heard under the industrial relations mechanism provided by the State.

Under the 1969 Act, section 11 enabled the Labour Court to set fair employment rules following consultation with representatives of employers, workers and industries. It fell off the Statute Book in the 1990 Act and we ask the committee to recommend to the Government that the measure be re-enacted so as to say that if employers decide they do not wish to voluntarily engage, which is their right, then the Oireachtas should not accept that because it is Government policy that there would be such a mechanism and that it will find a way to guide the Labour Court to do it.

This guidance of the Labour Court could be done under the provisions of section 11 of the 1969 Act. The section would enable the Labour Court to deal with the issue and also allow the Oireachtas to implement its policy of ensuring low paid workers are covered by the protections of a joint labour committee.