Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 24 May 2023
Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
Employee Experiences of Technological Surveillance in the Financial Services Sector: Discussion
Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity)
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This is an interesting subject. Some of the report's conclusions are dynamite. I would support progressing legislation on this matter but I note the point that has been made about consent where there is a major power imbalance. People have to sign the contracts to get these jobs, so if they do not consent, they do not get the jobs. This points towards the need for workers to organise and join unions so as to ensure that any legislation is respected and implemented.
Interesting points have been raised about debates on whether to meet this challenge by, for example, regulating surveillance or almost banning it. The latter seems to be the German case, which I will revisit. I support the proposal that we commission a report.
I wish to start with some questions for Dr. O'Sullivan. How many people were surveyed as part of the study and do we have a rough idea of how many workers in society are being affected by this situation?