Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The overarching point here is really about making work pay, ensuring people can access working hours that work for them and helping people to be financially independent. It is about much more than getting a weekly or monthly pay cheque; it is about the dignity of work and dignity at work and it is about making a contribution to society. The overarching principle informing the reforms that have been introduced by the Tánaiste is the need to ensure people are enabled to work for as long as they can and get as many hours as they can to provide for themselves and their families. It is a question of incentivising workers and ensuring work always pays. This is one of the overarching principles informing the establishment of the Low Pay Commission, which is an important institutional change aimed at tackling low pay from every perspective in a sustained and structured way. We do not want to tackle the issue of low pay, which can be a soul-destroying and crushing experience for anybody, in a piecemeal fashion. We need to do it in a structured way. I have gone into some detail about the legislative provisions and the code of practice involved in the area of part-time work. As the Deputy knows, I am working with the University of Limerick to carry out the first comprehensive study of its kind into the extent and prevalence of low-hour contracts in this economy. Those involved in that study will make recommendations to me in the autumn regarding the legislative and regulatory changes that may be required to ensure work pays and the jobs that are created are good, decent and sustainable. I think we are achieving that. The share of casual and part-time workers on the live register has decreased by 9% by comparison with the figures for June 2014. That is just one example.

See this speech in context