Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 2:

In page 4, between lines 41 and 42, to insert the following:" "social contract clause” means a clause that obliges an executing party to--

(a) employ some unemployed persons who are on the live register and who are under 25 years of age, and

(b) employ some persons who are long term unemployed;".

I welcome the opportunity to discuss amendment No. 2, along with amendments Nos. 7, 11 and 20. Essentially, we discussed this on Committee Stage, so we do not need a major discussion of it now. The essence of it is that all major contracts should have a social contract inserted therein. This relates to those working in construction who were laid off before they got to complete their apprenticeships, many of whom do not have any actual work. Youth unemployment is a major issue not just in Ireland but right across Europe. Amendment No. 2 seeks to insert a social contract clause into the various contracts referred to and covered by this legislation so that some unemployed persons on the live register and under 25 years of age and some people who are long-term unemployed can be employed.

The Government has introduced various initiatives to help employers take on people who are long-term unemployed and various schemes were announced last week by the Ministers for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation and Social Protection.

This is a classic example of where this can be put into practice.

Amendment No. 7 deals with a slightly different issue but states there would be a duty on the person carrying out the contract when making a request for payment to be in a position to supply the State contracting entity with a list of all subcontractors on site and to ensure subcontractors, employees and suppliers would be paid for the work they carry out on the project within seven days of receipt of payment.

The reason the amendments are grouped is to maintain a system whereby the PPS number of each person who enters the site at any stage during the construction contract shall be maintained by the company carrying out the project. There are many reasons for this, but primarily it is to ensure the existence of a record of everybody who works on a particular site in order that we do not have unscrupulous contractors paying people in the black economy while they claim social welfare at the same time. It would also help to ensure a full record of everybody on site to ensure they comply with the various registered employment agreements for payment purposes.

Maintaining PPS numbers should be an essential requirement under health and safety legislation in order that in the event of an accident on site there would be a record of who was on it. I know the Minister of State will say this is not the purpose of the legislation, but I respectfully suggest health and safety should be part of his concern with regard to State contracts, in particular. I suggest keeping a record of PPS numbers would have a beneficial effect for health and safety purposes. The main purpose is to ensure the existence of a record of people who work on a site and to ensure some people under 25 years of age and others who are long-term unemployed would be given an opportunity to work.

Amendment No. 11 states it would be a duty of the State contracting authority to ensure a social contract clause was inserted in every construction contract a State contracting entity might award to a prospective executing party. We want to put the onus on the Minister and the OPW to include in the procurement circulars issued to the various contracting authorities throughout the country, whether they be the HSE, Departments, school boards of management or local authorities, that every contract funded by taxpayers' money should be covered by this provision.

The Minister of State will say if people under 25 years were guaranteed a proportion of the jobs, by definition, somebody over 25 years would be put out of work, but somewhere along the line an effort must be made. Last week the Government launched an initiative to help long-term unemployed persons through a grants scheme to encourage employers to take them on. The principle should be extended to contracts awarded by State bodies.

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