Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail)

A procedure is in place for striking the minimum rate. The transitional agreement under Towards 2016 was not agreed. ICTU has been in contact with the Labour Court requesting that it set up the procedure of striking a rate. The court has contacted the social partners and asked them for their observations, which must be submitted prior to Christmas week. The court will then adjudicate on them, following which I will be handed the unenviable task of accepting, rejecting or amending them.

With regard to the joint labour committees, JLCs, in the hotel and catering industries, we have set in motion the amalgamation of the two catering JLCs — Dublin and the rest of the country. They met last Friday and they have more or less agreed the procedure. I requested the Labour Relations Commission to appoint a chairman so that everything can be done as quickly as possible. It is up to the members of the JLCs to agree rates, pay and conditions at the end of the day. Everybody accepts the catering and hotel sector are facing pressures and challenges. IBEC and ICTU are in discussions regarding the hotel sector because everybody acknowledges the pressures in both the broader economy and, in particular, in that sector.

I am concerned about breaches of the minimum wage legislation. Whether people like it, it is the minimum wage. The Parliament and the social partners have agreed this is the minimum amount to which an employee is entitled for a fair day's work. Most Members will support that ethos. NERA is targeting compliance with the legislation to ensure the most vulnerable are paid that rate and, more important, are paid arrears.

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