Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ba mhaith liom míle buíochas a ghabháil don Teachta Cullinane as an mBille iontach seo.Under the watch of the Labour Party and Fine Gael in government, low pay and insecure contracts have become part and parcel of the labour market, leaving families unable to make ends meet. Almost 20% of those signing on are in part-time and casual work, while under-employment remains unacceptably high. I do not believe the Minister or the Government understands what it means to be in this economic position. This is not a theoretical challenge to the families in question. For tens of thousands of families, it means poverty, going hungry, exploitation and a volatile insecure family life. There are in-work social protections such as family income supplement which are vital to families in being able to put food on the table and keep a roof over their heads. However, these supports are being given to people who are working for massively profitable businesses. They are, in fact, subsidies to these businesses because they do not employ or pay their staff properly.

The recent Dunnes Stores dispute illustrates with great clarity the immediate necessity for this type of legislation. Despite the company's healthy profits, management has shirked its responsibilities to employees by the widespread use of short-hour contracts. As a consequence, employees do not know from week to week what shifts they will work or what income they will earn. It is impossible to reconcile this practice with a modern, progressive economy. Casualised, insecure work is also bad for business. The flipside is that decent employers who try to compete with Dunnes Stores are unable to do so properly because they are offering decent contracts to their workers. They are undermined by companies such as Dunnes Stores who flout workers' rights.

The Bill is not rocket science. It does not ask much. It simply states the Government should put good practice into law. We have seen Mandate work on behalf of a number of companies and staff units in companies in putting in place systems such as this in order that workers can develop a contract that reflects the hours they work. I had hoped the two greater leaders of the workers' revolution, the Ministers of State, Deputies John Halligan and Finan McGrath, would use their enormous intellect to impact on their Fine Gael comrades to support the Bill. I understand that when it was brought before the House over a year ago, they were supportive of it. I also understand they are interested in consistent voting patterns and as such hope they will support the Bill. If the Labour Party could not steer Fine Gael towards the path of righteousness, it will be difficult for the Independent all-sorts to do so. When the Labour Party was in power and brought similar legislation before the Dáil, Deputy David Cullinane and I made efforts at every stage to bring about amendments to ameliorate some of the difficulties with zero and low hour contracts, but at every point the former Minister of State, Gerald Nash, on behalf of the Labour Party, refused to allow them to go through. I recall telling him about a year ago that it was his last opportunity in the rest of his political life to fix this, but he refused to take it. The Labour Party is a different party in than outside government.

It is also interesting that we now have Fianna Fáil, the regional party. It comments on what is happening in the North of Ireland but refuses to have candidates stand for electin in the North to represent Irish people living in that part of the country. I would like to put Deputy Niall Collins straight on an issue. Last February, during the passage of the employment Bill in the North, my colleague, Phil Flanagan, MLA, tabled amendments that would have prohibited the use of zero hour contracts in the North, but, unfortunately, they were not accepted by the Minister from the Alliance Party, Stephen Farry. It is also interesting that Deputy Niall Collins said in this Chamber a few minutes ago that he had the support of the unions for the Fianna Fáil stance. We have been contacted by the ICTU which would like the record to be amended to the effect that Fianna Fáil has no basis for its claim and that Deputy Niall Collins will receive a letter from it in the morning setting him straight. I ask the Deputy to bring the letter to the floor of this Chamber tomorrow in order that the record can be corrected.

I am shocked that the Fianna Fáil-Fine Gael cartel are kicking this legislation down the road. We already have a "tomorrow" Taoiseach and a Minister for procrastination. Now Fianna Fáil wants to turn the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation into the Department of strategic dithering.

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