Jerry Buttimer (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)

It is important to acknowledge that even as we speak, two groups of people, the workers of La Senza and Vita Cortex, are engaged in sit-ins in their places of employment in an attempt to gain what is rightfully theirs. This Bill is an important move in the right direction and I welcome the Minister's decision and persistence in proceeding with it. It is concerned with equal treatment in regard to pay and conditions of employment for workers. It is about people. The Minister was correct to say when publishing it that it was about directly recruited workers, but more importantly that it also was designed to minimise the impact on competitiveness in the economy and to keep costs in employment to a minimum. We must value work and must reward people who do their job, irrespective of the type of work and this Bill is important because it is about providing workers with equal pay and conditions.

The Bill is concerned with pay, duration of the working day, rest periods, breaks, night work, annual leave and public holidays. These are issues many people in employment take for granted. Deputy Humphreys alluded to the issue of access to facilities. I have been concerned with regard to the trend, particularly in the health sector, towards agency work and I will refer to this in more detail later. When I was in college, I had a part-time job as a porter in Cork Regional Hospital and there were many people working there as cleaners. We were trained on the importance of hygiene in our hospitals. We have moved away from that type of training now with the recruitment of agency workers, particularly with regard to cleaners in hospitals. These workers are women in the main. They do a very good job and they should be treated with respect. This Bill will ensure that happens. The Bill will include and recognise the right to basic pay. I am not sure but would like clarification from the Minister on whether it will also deal with the issue of a shift premium and an unsocial hours premium, which are important for people in this sector.

We must keep employment costs to a minimum, while at the same time rewarding and creating employment. I compliment the Minister on the interview published in The Irish Times this morning in which he stressed the importance of work and of getting people back to work. He spoke earlier about a milestone and referred to the Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001 and the Protection of Employees (Fixed Term Work) Act 2003, important legislation. To be fair, other Governments have done significant work in protecting employees. It is extraordinary that agency workers were not entitled to access to facilities or to information on job vacancies. We must avoid creating antagonism between people in full-time employment and agency workers.

Chambers Ireland and IBEC have raised concerns about the Bill. Sometimes these groups do not speak the language I speak and I am concerned at times about some of their remarks. In these economic times, many agency workers are young and unskilled and they must be protected. For that reason, I wonder about the thrust of the argument put forward by Chambers Ireland regarding the anti-competitive and unsupportive element of the legislation. Equally, IBEC complains regarding the cost to employers. Without doubt, employers here are in big trouble and the months of January and February will be a major challenge to small and medium size enterprises in our cities and counties. I have met with and spoken to some traders in Cork city in recent weeks and, thankfully, there has been good business within the retail industry and restaurants in Cork city in the past month. Part of this resulted from the Government restoring confidence. People believe someone is in charge and some want to spend and support local industry and small retailers. It is important to shop local, but it is also important to keep costs down for those who want to employ.

The derogation to which the Minister referred presents a major difficulty. Unfortunately, and despite his best efforts, agreement with the social partners was not reached. After the enactment of this legislation, negotiations to secure the derogation and keep us in line with the majority of European countries will continue. It is clear that the Government and all sides of the House encourage flexibility of employment while protecting the rights of workers.

The amount spent by the HSE on agency workers has increased by 75% from €108 million in 2009 to an expected €190 million last year. This increase directly related to the recruitment embargo, as front line staff who are on maternity leave, sick leave or annual leave can only be replaced by employing agency workers. In replying to a parliamentary question of mine last November, the Minister for Health confirmed the breakdown of the cost of using agency staff. He stated:

The cost to the HSE is the wage cost, commission, which ranges from 5.5% to 11.75%, employers PRSI at 10.75%, holiday and public holiday pay at 12%, plus VAT at 21%. This costs the HSE a premium of between 55% and 62% on top of the wages paid to the agency worker.

The cost increased from 5 December onwards because of the direct effect of the European regulation. Going by last year's figures, removing the VAT element would save the HSE €33 million.

Is it right to spend €190 million per year on agency staff when we have limited resources? It is an extraordinary amount of money by any stretch of the imagination and, even on its own, is a reason to reconsider the embargo. Just as with education, one size does not fit all in the health sector. Perhaps the Government and the HSE should revisit the question of spending so much money on agency staff when the HSE could recruit and directly employ additional front line staff.

The Vita Cortex situation in Cork is a question of employment and employees' rights. Thanks to the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, the Labour Relations Commission, LRC, has intervened. I compliment him on his efforts and thank him for engaging with me on the dispute during the Christmas period. Of the 32 workers, 27 have been forced to sit in every day since mid-December. As I stated during the Topical Issue debate, they are genuine, decent people, many of whom have given more than 40 years. They have been treated appallingly by a company that is sacrificing humanity because of greed.

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