Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Sinn Féin welcomes the opportunity to discuss the regularisation of the position of au pairs and domestic workers in Ireland. Ireland may be unique in Europe in its absolute failure to provide any semblance of a national child care policy or services. The situation continues to persist in spite of the fact that since the early 1990s, we have seen increased participation by women in the labour market. Shifts in the global economy have meant that for the first time in its history, Ireland is a receiver of immigrants from countries from within and from outside the EU. This poses huge challenges in terms of the regulation of the labour market and raises real concerns about the exploitation of vulnerable workers in the hidden labour market, especially those workers who are undocumented.

In the domestic and au pair sector, the workers are almost always women. The failure to regulate has led to a domestic work sector that is now dominated by informal and irregular work carried out by both au pairs and undocumented migrants. These are two vulnerable groups who experience barriers accessing their rights and frequently remain in exploitative situations in private homes. The disconnect between labour migration policy and employment demand has created an unregulated and exploitative system. The International Labour Organisation's domestic workers convention, ratified by Ireland in 2014 as the Minister said, defines a domestic worker as a person engaged in domestic work within an employment relationship. This definition includes au pairs. Irish employment legislation applies to all workers where an employment relationship exists regardless of the job title given to the worker. Furthermore, all workers come within the remit of the Workplace Relations Commission.

Sinn Féin favours the regulation of the au pair sector but we do not feel the Au Pair Placement Bill 2016 achieves this. The Bill will undermine domestic workers' rights and create a flawed and unnecessary hierarchy of rights within the sector. The proposed definition of "au pair" within the Bill is vague and lacks clarity. The Bill fails to provide a clear definition of "light housework" or "light domestic duties". This is a key weakness that has been exposed in other jurisdictions that have au pair schemes. The focus of the Bill is too narrow as it proposes no more than a 30 hour working week.

The Bill will also require resources in order to establish and run an au pair accreditation council to be tasked with the protection of the rights of au pairs. However, a body already exists in the Workplace Relations Commission and this proposal undermines its work. It is clear that the sector needs to be regulated, but Fianna Fáil's Bill to categorise au pairs as cultural exchange participants will result in a domestic worker scheme which creates an underclass of migrant domestic workers who have been put out of reach of labour law protections. This is not acceptable as migrant women are more at risk of poverty and suffer in relation to the gender pay gap. Addressing the exploitation of au pairs requires the enforcement of existing laws, resourcing the WRC and informing the public of their responsibilities as employers.

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