Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)

I support the thrust of what the amendment is trying to do. I hope it will achieve Deputy Penrose's intention, that is, to try to protect some people on the current minimum wage. Like Deputy Burton, I am concerned that employers will find a coach and four to go through this unless there is a change of mind at Government level to protect people on the minimum wage. Sinn Féin wants a belt and braces approach to protecting the current minimum wage. The amendment tries to protect some people in that category, so let us try to bag it while it lasts.

While I appreciate the sentiment of what the Labour Party is trying to achieve, one must ask whether implied contracts as opposed to written contracts are worth the paper on which they are written. Where do people in the catering and hotels sectors who look after occasional weddings stand? They do not have contracts, so what is implied in their case? These are the types of gaping hole in the legislation with which the Government must deal. Something firm must be put in place. The types of worker involved have been alluded to by a number of Deputies. I agree that the workers are invariably women, younger people and, in some cases, older people. In my constituency, people who cater for weddings increasingly tend to be older women who have returned to try to scrape together a few bob to keep their households going. They will not be protected under the Government's provision or Deputy Penrose's amendment. They will probably fall between all of the gaps.

This week, the newspapers reported on an employment issue in Dundalk. A woman fired by an employer told him she wanted process, to which he replied in unrosy language that he does not do "f'ing process". This is just one case that has come to light and we all know other cases exist. It is clear what employers with this instinct will do when they get their hands on the Bill after it becomes an Act. While Deputy Gogarty was in the Chamber yesterday, I mentioned how the Green Party was a different party when it was sitting on this side of the House a few years ago and that it would strenuously oppose this Bill if it was still on these benches. This shows how contaminating going into government can be, particularly with Fianna Fáil. We have seen the outcome for other parties and I suspect the Green Party is heading down the same road as the Progressive Democrats. Perhaps it will last for much longer as a party, since its members disagree with what is being done in this Bill and will stay together and try to keep the show on the road.

The budget attacks people on the minimum wage. It not only reduces their wages, but also attacks them by levying the universal social charge. If the Bill is passed, I will remember this principle for a long time after I leave the House. There is still time for people on the backbenches and for Green Party Members to examine this provision and call it unfair, unjust, scandalous and unsupportable. Even at this 11th and a half hour, I hope they will see some sort of wisdom.

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