Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)

With the permission of the House I wish to share time with Deputy Kelleher. In addressing the Bill I refer to some of the comments made by the previous speaker, for whom I have good regard and respect for his general discourse and banter in the House. However, I remind Deputy Buttimer if he is concerned about the record of the last Government that with regard to employment during a ten year period there were an extra 800,000 people at work. I do not suggest for one moment that this is entirely the responsibility or to the credit of the previous Government. However, the policies that were followed for many years were largely supportive of enterprise and have led to a transformation of this economy. There are problems and we are going through a crisis, some of which is of our own making and some of which, as the Deputy is well aware, is the result of international pressures and measures. To suggest that the previous Government is responsible for all ills and that it somehow took an entirely reckless approach in the management of the economy is far wide of the mark. We will have an opportunity to debate the matter in greater detail.

Deputy Buttimer remarked on the record of the current Government and the speed and haste with which it has sought to address many of the problems and issues which exist. The issues of electoral reform and the banning of corporate donations were discussed a good deal in the run-in to the election but the Government has been hesitant, despite the fact that we prepared two tranches of legislation. One tranche related to an amendment to the Constitution and a Bill to allow that to take place. The other tranche of legislation would have served to act in an interim capacity. Deputy Buttimer's party in particular has sought to avoid that. I can only draw the conclusion that the Deputy believes there is some stock and a capacity within his party to continue to draw corporate donations during the interregnum until such time as the Deputy's party introduces legislation. That speaks volumes for the Deputy's views on electoral reform.

The Deputy then spoke about promises that were made. I remind him that his party and his partners in government made many promises in the run-in to the election, particularly on how they would renegotiate the programme that was agreed by the previous Government with the EU and IMF. The new Government has fallen well short in that regard, failing to renegotiate any aspect of it. Members opposite seek to take credit for changes to the national minimum wage, which I will return to presently. The situation in regard to the interest rate on the bailout speaks for itself. Moreover, in recent days we have seen a debacle emerging through the difference of opinion between the Taoiseach and the Minister for Finance.

The Minister, Deputy Burton, suggested during the election that she would support low-paid workers by reversing the reduction in the minimum wage. She has followed through on that undertaking in this legislation. However, nowhere along the way was there any suggestion from the parties in government that they would target a much greater number of low-paid workers through an attack on the joint labour committee, JLC, process, which will reduce the take-home pay of up to 200,000 workers. At the time the previous Government reviewed the minimum wage, representatives of various sectors put forward a coherent argument that a reduction in the rate would open up opportunities for new employees and would not affect existing workers. One particular enterprise within the private sector sought to test that but failed in the courts. The process that was put in place by the previous Government protected existing workers and gave an opportunity to employers to live up to their commitments. In other words, the reduction in the minimum wage was justified at the time in order to provide an opportunity for employers to take on additional staff. Unfortunately, they did not live up to their commitments in that regard.

The reality is that changes to the JLC system impact on a much broader group of people than would a reduction in the minimum wage. Minimum wage employment is usually transient and short-term, often taken up on a casual basis by students and other young people before they embark on their career proper. By contrast, the dismantling of the JLCs or a reduction in the rates payable under the system would have a much greater impact, particularly in the hospitality sector where large numbers of employees are regulated through JLCs and employment regulation orders, EROs. For many of these workers their job is their career and they intend to remain in the sector in the long term.

Ireland has always prided itself on the quality of its employees in the tourism sector and on the friendly and competent way in which they do their jobs. Eroding the pay scales in that sector will impact significantly on the quality of the service offered. Ironically, we have already seen something of that decline even with the higher pay rates that were available during the boom years. Employers in the hospitality sector have told me they had to pay more than was required under the ERO in order to secure good staff. Even at that, many of the jobs in the sector were filled by eastern Europeans, which is not to suggest in any way that the work done by the latter was anything less than perfect. However, visitors to this country come in the expectation of meeting a friendly Irish face and enjoying an Irish-delivered and Irish-provided service. There are potential losses to the country if we do not ensure that is what they get.

An important element of our tourism offering has traditionally been its delivery by staff who are up for the interaction with guests and prepared to involve themselves in banter and who are, in turn, well looked after and achieve a sense of satisfaction from their work. Unfortunately, if we engage in a race to the bottom in terms of wages we may damage the product we are offering. I acknowledge that the Minister is committed, as she was as Opposition spokesperson, to representing lower-paid workers. As such, I hope she can in some way alleviate the worst ravages of the measures identified by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton. I see other friendly faces in the House who I have no doubt will work assiduously to ensure these proposals are modified.

The Minister will recall the Duffy-Walsh report which was initiated by the previous Government on the basis of its concern that any dismantling of wage structures under the JLCs might have a detrimental impact on various sectors, particularly the tourism sector. That approach was taken in the face of calls by some of the employer groups for the system to be dismantled immediately. We have been proved right in our caution. Most of the recommendations in the report are appropriate and commensurate with what needs to be done, but the most important finding is that there is no appreciable evidence that there is job creation potential in dismantling the JLC structure. It is important that the Government acts on reports such as this rather than apparently drawing up calculations on the back of an envelope. When we on this side of the House were in government we were accused on occasion of not following the advice of certain reports. Of course, we were also accused when we did follow the advice of certain reports. That is one of the joys of being in government.

During the election campaign much was made of the desire of the Labour Party in particular to protect workers on the lowest pay. The Tánaiste, when he was on this side of the House, came in here on a daily basis and, with great indignation, castigated and chastised the Government - as did the Minister, Deputy Burton - for what was presented as a desire by the then Government to force lower-paid workers to take the greatest brunt of the cuts. I hope the Minister will recall her views at that time and user her negotiating skills to ensure the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Deputy Bruton, does not get his way on this particular issue.

I have talked about job satisfaction and the capacity to retain people in the hospitality sector. If it becomes the case that tourism and catering jobs are seen as merely transient, with people doing them for a while before moving on, it will not be good for the industry or for society at large. There is a need to develop levels of skill and craft within the sector, but we can only do that if there is a proper wage structure where people feel they can develop a career rather than merely taking a job as a filler.

The Bill also gives effect to the Government's internship programme. I welcome the concept set out in the Bill, but I remind the Minister that I have already spoken about it in the House because it is very similar to the provision set out by the previous Government in the 2011 budget. The latter was referred to as a skills development and internship programme and it too set out to provide 5,000 places for interns. However, the most significant difference in the Government's proposal is that it is not quite as beneficial to the participants, with only €50 per week-----

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