Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Bill which is a vital piece of legislation to protect workers' rights. I was struck by the comments of the former Minister, Deputy Kelly, when he spoke about this side of the House joining the Labour Party's track record on these issues. However, the reason we are here and why this legislation is necessary is precisely because of the hollowing out of workers' rights which took place under the last Government. As a result, Ireland has become one of the worst offenders in terms of precarious employment and bad jobs. Ireland has the highest level of low-paid work in the EU and is second to last in terms of EU wage inequality.

Job insecurity and an inability to plan one's life is causing huge stress to Irish workers. The situation affects mainly women, migrants and younger workers. The Bill tries to ensure that workers are offered contracts reflecting their actual working week. In other words, if workers consistently work 20 hours over at least a six-month period, they should have a right to ask for a contract that reflects that.

I want to cite two brief examples which are not about one workplace or one industry. A woman in her 40s with two child dependants has worked nine years in the same retail outlet. Her contract is for 16 hours over four days but she can be asked to work extra hours with very little notice. She has asked for her hours to be over three days so she could qualify for social welfare, but management refused. She wants to work full-time, but her employer will not allow it. When somebody on 16 hours left, the jobs were not offered to her but to two people on eight-hour contracts. There is one full-time worker in her job, while the rest are in part-time employment.

Another employee in a German multinational retailer - guess who it is - in Dublin city centre spent six years on a ten-hour contract but actually worked 48 hours each week. He had the gall to make a health and safety complaint about a blocked fire escape and consequently his hours were cut back to ten hours and he was told to suck it up. This culture of bullying and intimidation has to stop. Over 100,000 workers are affected by this matter, so this Bill is a vital piece of legislation on the road to correcting that.

See this speech in context