Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:“acknowledges that in steering the country through and out of the economic crisis the Government has focused on protecting the most vulnerable workers, pursued an agenda of maintaining and improving employment rights and reforming and enhancing both the industrial relations institutions of the State and the industrial relations legislative framework utilised by workers and employers, and in this regard:

— recognises the legislative changes introduced by the Government to protect workers’ rights, especially the most vulnerable workers in society, and in particular;

— to restore the cut in the national minimum wage, thereby reaffirming that a statutory minimum wage is a statement of core values, providing a threshold of decency under which society agrees that workers’ wages should not fall;

— through the enactment of the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2012, to reinstate the joint labour committee system to support wage setting in sectors where workers are poorly organised and vulnerable, and wages tend to be low; and

— to enact legislation (the Protection of Employees (Temporary Agency Work) Act 2012) to protect temporary agency workers through a legal framework in which agency workers are afforded equal treatment in respect of their basic working and employment conditions;

— further recognises the Government’s commitment to pursue an extensive industrial relations and employment rights reform agenda and in this respect notes the progress made, including the following in particular:

Low Pay Commission:

— the establishment of the Low Pay Commission earlier this year as an independent body that, taking specified economic and social matters into account, will make annual recommendations to the Government on the national minimum wage and related matters;

— that establishment of the Low Pay Commission on an interim basis, in advance of legislation to establish the commission on a statutory basis, allows it to proceed urgently with its first review of the national minimum wage;

— the legislation to be published shortly, with a view to enactment before the summer, will provide that, alongside examining the national minimum wage, the Low Pay Commission will also be tasked with examining matters related generally to the functions of the commission under the Act - a work programme will be agreed by the Government and presented to the commission each year;

Registered Employment Agreements:

— following on from the Supreme Court judgment in the McGowan case, the Government has approved the drafting of legislation to provide a revised legislative framework to replace registered employment agreements, REAs;

— the legislation will provide for the reintroduction of a mechanism for the registration of employment agreements between an employer or employers and trade unions governing terms and conditions in individual enterprises and also provide for a new statutory framework for establishing minimum rates of remuneration and pensions for a specified type, class or group of employee as a replacement for the former sectoral REA system;

— this legislation has completed pre-legislative scrutiny and is due to be published shortly;

Collective Bargaining:

— the Government has approved the drafting of legislation to reform the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2001 to provide for an improved and modernised industrial relations framework that will provide more clarity for employers and ensure that where an employer chooses not to engage in collective bargaining either with a trade union or an internal ‘excepted body’ the 2001 Act will be remediated to ensure there is an effective means for a union, on behalf of members in that employment, to have disputed remuneration, terms and conditions assessed against relevant comparators and determined by the Labour Court, if necessary;

— the legislation will contain strong anti-victimisation provisions to protect workers who may feel that they are being victimised for exercising their rights under the legislation, including the introduction of interim relief against unfair dismissal;

— this legislation is due to be published shortly;

Study of Zero Hour Contracts and Low-Hours Contracts:

— the University of Limerick has been appointed and has commenced its work on a study into the prevalence of zero hour contracts and low hour contracts in the Irish economy and their impact on employees;

— the study will have a broad scope covering both the public and private sectors with a particular focus on the retail, hospitality, health and education sectors;

— the study will assess current employment rights legislation as it applies to employees on such contracts;

— one of the key objectives of the study is to fill the gap in knowledge currently available about the use of such contracts and their impact on employees and to enable the Government to consider any evidence-based policy recommendations deemed necessary on foot of the study;

Workplace Relations Reform:

— the Workplace Relations Bill 2014 which is expected to complete its passage through the Oireachtas in May will deliver a significantly streamlined workplace relations service which is fit for purpose, simple to use, independent, effective, impartial and cost-effective; it will provide for more workable and efficient means of redress and enforcement within a reasonable period for all users of the service;

Organisation of Working Time Act 1997:

— the Government has brought forward, in the Workplace Relations Bill 2014, amendment of the organisation of working time legislation to provide for the accrual of annual leave while absent from work on sick leave, which strikes the right balance between protecting the rights of vulnerable workers who are off work due to illness and the impact on business; and

notes:

— that since the launch of the first action plan for jobs in 2012, 90,000 net new jobs have been created, of which 86% were full-time jobs rather than casual or temporary jobs;

— that unemployment has fallen from 15.1% in January 2012 and will achieve single digit levels in 2015;

— that average hourly earnings continue to increase ahead of inflation; and

— the achievement of accelerating economic growth to 4.8% of GDP in 2014 provides the basis to continue to enhance the well-being of all in our society, particularly the less well off.

I wish to share time with the Minister of State, Deputy Gerald Nash.

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