Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after “Dáil Éireann” and substitute the following:

“supports a social economy model to deliver a strong economy and a fair society;

welcomes the commitment of Government to:— respond to any recommendations of the Low Pay Commission as part of Budget 2017 to increase the statutory minimum wage;

— fully implement the Lansdowne Road Agreement in accordance with the timelines agreed and recognise that the recruitment issues in the public service must be addressed as part of this Agreement;

— establish a Public Service Pay Commission to examine pay levels across the public service, including entry levels of pay;

— support the gradual, negotiated repeal of the Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Acts having due regard to the priority to improve public services and in recognition of the essential role played by public servants;

— review the definition and application of the Living Wage within the public service with a view to ensuring balanced and progressive restoration of pay and encourage employers across the economy, on a voluntary basis, to adopt the Living Wage;

— tackle the problems caused by the increased casualisation of work that prevents workers from being able to save or have any job security;

— respect the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court as the proper forum for state intervention in industrial relation disputes and ensure that both bodies are supported and adequately resourced to fulfil their roles;

— respond to the study conducted by the University of Limerick on the prevalence of zero hours contracts following the recent public consultation process; and

— respond to the appalling manner in which employees were made redundant without notice on the same day that the Clerys operating company was sold and then put in to liquidation and notes that:

— the commissioning of Nessa Cahill and Kevin Duffy to conduct an expert examination of legal protections for workers with a particular focus on ways of ensuring limited liability and corporate restructuring are not used to avoid a company’s obligations to its employees;

— in parallel with, but separate to the work of Nessa Cahill and Kevin Duffy, the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation requested the Company Law Review Group (CLRG) to review company law with a view to recommending ways company law could be potentially amended to ensure better safeguards for employees and unsecured creditors; and

— authorised officers of the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation have sought information from a number of parties in relation to the collective redundancies that took place on 12th June, 2015, pursuant to the appointment of a provisional liquidator to OCS Operations Limited and the authorised officers’ work is ongoing.”

I am pleased the House is having this debate. The Government will support a social economy model to deliver a strong economy and a fair society. Many positive actions have been taken in the recent past. Very progressive proposals are included in the new programme for partnership Government. These proposals will enhance the well-being of our people and protect the most vulnerable in our society.

It is important to acknowledge the very significant progress in the past five years. We have seen sustained job creation and decreasing unemployment. We have maintained our focus and drive towards full employment. It is also important to take stock of the progress made in recent years in improving employment rights. We have also reformed the industrial relations institutions of the State and the industrial relations legislation used by workers and employers. First, I would like to stress the improvements in employment and unemployment.

Full employment is what will make all our other plans possible, including better services, higher living standards and, ultimately, better lives for people living in Ireland. The country has witnessed a significant shift in the economy during recent years. The policies pursued are paying dividends in terms of rebuilding the economy and society. Since 2012, the Action Plan for Jobs has delivered measures agreed by the Government to promote job opportunities and employment growth in all parts of the country. Recent CSO figures show 155,000 more people are at work. Unemployment is down to 7.8% from a high of 15.1% in February 2012. Employment continues to grow strongly and 47,600 additional jobs were created in the past year, most of which are full-time. Casual and part-time work decreased by 8.3%. Part-time underemployment has also fallen year on year, from 114,800 in the first quarter of 2015 to 99,100 in the first quarter of 2016. It is down from more than 150,000 in 2012.

Employment growth is spread across economic sectors and the regions. Employment has grown in 12 out of the 14 economic sectors in the year to the first quarter of 2016. The unemployment rate fell in all eight regions in the year to the first quarter of 2016. These are very encouraging figures and trends. They show there is strong and continued employment growth across the economy and the regions. My priority in government is to ensure these positive trends continue. The Government will use the benefits of a strong economy to ensure we have a fair society.

I acknowledge the progress made in recent years in improving employment rights to protect workers, especially the most vulnerable workers in our society. The Low Pay Commission was set up on a statutory basis in July 2015. The commission’s job is to examine and make recommendations each year on the national minimum wage. The commission is set up to ensure increases over time in the national minimum wage are sustainable and fair. It takes account of changes in earnings, productivity, competitiveness and the likely impact any change will have on employment and unemployment levels.

The national minimum wage increased to €9.15 per hour on 1 January this year following Government acceptance of the Low Pay Commission recommendation to increase the rate from €8.65 per hour. The previous Government's reversal of the cut in the national minimum wage in July 2011 and increase to €9.15 ensures that work pays. The statutory minimum wage is a statement of core values. It provides a pay threshold below which society agrees workers' wages should not fall. The next report of the Low Pay Commission regarding the national minimum wage is due on 19 July. I look forward to responding to any recommendation of the Low Pay Commission to increase the national minimum wage as part of the 2017 budget.

As well as making recommendations on the national minimum wage, the commission has also been asked to examine the appropriateness of the lower sub-minima rates. The report is due by the end of October 2016. The commission has also been asked to examine why almost 65% of those on the minimum wage are women. This report is also due by the end of October 2016.

I will highlight other major reforms in employment rights. We have seen the most significant reform in the history of the State of the workplace relations system used to vindicate employees' rights. The Workplace Relations Commission and a stronger Labour Court are in place. We have ensured the wages and conditions of agency workers were brought into line with their full-time counterparts. We have re-established the joint labour committee and registered employment agreement wage setting system, which had been found to be unconstitutional. Employees' terms and conditions can be assessed by the Labour Court if collective bargaining does not lake place.

In workplace relations reforms, five bodies were merged into two, namely, the Workplace Relations Commission and the Labour Court. This change provides a better service at less cost to employees and employers. It represents the most significant reform of the State’s employment rights and industrial relations machinery in 70 years. Welcome reforms were made to our collective bargaining laws through the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015, which was commenced in August last year. The legislation provides a clear and balanced mechanism by which the fairness of the total employment conditions of workers can be assessed by the Labour Court if collective bargaining does not take place. The changes bring clarity and certainty for employers in terms of managing their workplaces in this respect. It also provides strong protections for workers against dismissal or victimisation where they invoke the provisions of the Acts.

Also in 2015 the statutory code of practice on victimisation was strengthened. The stronger code explicitly provides that inducement of workers to relinquish or forego trade union representation is prohibited. This applies in the same way as victimisation of workers for availing of trade union representation is prohibited.

There have been other developments in recent years also regarding wage setting mechanisms. In 2012 new legislation re-established the framework within which employers and employee representatives could work through the joint labour committee system. They can come together voluntarily and negotiate terms and conditions of workers in their respective sector. If their proposals are adopted by the Labour Court the Minister can make an order giving effect to such proposals. Two such orders were signed on 1 October last for the security and contract cleaning sectors. In addition, the Industrial Relations (Amendment) Act 2015 provides for a revised legislative framework to replace the registered employment agreement framework. This had been deemed invalid by the Supreme Court in 2013. The legislation sets out a replacement framework for registered employment agreements in individual enterprises. It also sets a new mechanism whereby pay and pension and sick pay provisions in a particular sector can be established, agreed and enforced by a sectoral employment order.

Ireland's comprehensive suite of employment rights legislation sets out protections for all workers. This includes special protections for those who work on a part-time basis or on a temporary basis. For example, a part-time employee cannot be treated less favourably than a comparable full-time employee. All employee protection legislation applies to a part-time employee in the same manner as it already applies to a full-time employee. Fixed-term workers may not be treated less favourably than comparable permanent workers. All temporary agency workers have a right to equal treatment with regular workers from their first day at work.

I make the point that throughout the crisis the Government was committed to maintaining employment rights and particularly those protecting the most vulnerable workers in our society. If anything, where changes were made or new legislation introduced, they have improved protections. Another recent example was to provide for the accrual of annual leave while absent from work on sick leave. This change strikes the right balance between protecting the rights of vulnerable workers who are off work due to illness and the impact on business.

Looking forward, I welcome the commitment in the programme for Government to tackle the problems caused by the increased casualisation of work and to strengthen regulation of precarious work. To this end I am committed to considering an appropriate policy response to the report of the University of Limerick, UL, of its study of zero hour contracts and low hour contracts in the Irish economy. All Deputies will be aware that UL was appointed in February 2015 to study the prevalence of zero hour contracts and low hour contracts. Its study was published in 2015. It found that zero hour contracts are not extensively used in Ireland. However, it found that low working hours can arise in different forms in employment contracts. These can be regular part-time contracts with fixed hours. They can also be a contract with "if and when" hours only or a hybrid of the two. If and when contracts are contracts where workers are not contractually required to make themselves available for work.

The UL report made a range of recommendations relating to contracts, hours of work and notice, minimum hours, how contracted hours should be determined, collective agreements, data gathering and wider contextual issues. It is important to point out that the UL study was an independent study and the conclusions drawn and the recommendations made in it are those of UL. Therefore, it was essential to seek the views of stakeholders.

To this end, my Department sought submissions from interested parties by way of a public consultation. A large number of submissions were received by 4 January 2016, the closing date for receipt of such submissions. The responses contain a variety of views both for and against the findings and recommendations as made by UL. These responses require, and are currently being given, careful consideration by my Department. The study and the responses to it will be considered by Government with a view to agreeing the actions that should be taken.

I want to welcome here tonight the Clerys workers who were treated so despicably. The closure of Clerys department store and the manner in which its workers lost their jobs was totally unacceptable and that should never happen again. It raised questions as to how the relevant provisions of employment law and company law could be exploited to produce an outcome never intended by the respective codes of law.

Ms Nessa Cahill, a company law specialist, and Mr. Kevin Duffy, chairman of the Labour Court, were asked to conduct an expert examination. They examined the legal protections for workers with a particular focus on ways of ensuring limited liability and corporate restructuring are not used to avoid a company's obligations to its employees. The examination looked specifically at situations where assets of significant value are separated from the operating entity which is the employer. It looked at how the position of employees can be better protected in such situations. In parallel with the work of Ms Nessa Cahill and Mr. Kevin Duffy, my predecessor requested the Company Law Review Group, CLRG, to review company law. This was with a view to recommending ways company law could be potentially amended to ensure better safeguards for employees and unsecured creditors. The CLRG has commenced its work in this regard.

Ms Nessa Cahill and Mr. Kevin Duffy submitted their report in March. The report provides a comprehensive analysis of the relevant provisions of employment law and company law. It makes a number of proposals for reform of the law, which are primarily concerned with amendments to employment law. The report was brought to Government and published on 26 April. My priority now is to get considered responses to the report from interested parties. I will then bring forward a response to the report for consideration by Government. Stakeholder views will be important in assessing how the suggested reforms could operate in practice and in identifying any unintended consequences.

I am pleased to say that yesterday I launched the public consultation on the experts' report, with a closing date of 17 June. I would welcome submissions from all interested parties, including members of the Oireachtas. Separately, my authorised officers have sought information from a number of parties regarding the collective redundancies that took place at Clerys and that work is ongoing.

In my new role I am happy to encourage employers across the economy to adopt, on a voluntary basis, the living wage. This concept is grounded in the idea that a person's wage should be sufficient to maintain a safe, decent standard of living but is quite separate from the national minimum wage. The living wage is a voluntary societal initiative centred on the social, business and economic case to ensure that, wherever it can be afforded, employers will pay a rate of pay that provides an income that is sufficient to meet an individual's basic needs.

I want to assure the House of the Government's commitment to continue the significant progress made in recent years in improving the protection of workers' rights, particularly the most vulnerable workers. In this respect I look forward to working in a positive and constructive manner with colleagues across all sides of the House.

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