Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We will be moving an amendment to the Bill.

I ask those who introduced the Bill to consider withdrawing it because it has some serious defects. I welcome the au pairs in the Visitors Gallery. Can we stop using the term “au pair”? We are talking about child care workers. I welcome also the members of Migrant Rights Centre Ireland, who have made many submissions on this Bill and who are completely opposed to it.

It is mystifying and very strange that one of the first Bills Fianna Fáil introduces in this Parliament is on such a subject. The Bill is very patronising, regressive and sexist. It refers to 30 hours of light domestic “help”, not labour. Obviously, when women do work, it is not actually labour; it is help. The Bill treats so-called au pairs as non-workers and refers to "pocket money" for 30 hours’ work. I seriously ask the sponsors of the Bill to consider withdrawing it before they do any more damage. Camouflaging exploitation in a cultural exchange has no justification.

The Bill peddles a very dangerous myth, namely, that au pairs - child care workers - are students in a gap year having a bit of craic and fun while staying with a host family and learning a language. That is not the reality. The reality is that the individuals are child care workers who are generally older women. They are mothers themselves, for God’s sake. They have children themselves to support. It is not pocket money that they are doing the work for. They are trying to send money home in many cases. They are women, workers and mothers, and this is borne out by the statistics. Most of those concerned are aged between 30 and 35. Let us please stop peddling these very dangerous myths and undermining workers’ rights.

There is a perception that people are learning a language and engaging in a cultural exchange. It is not the first time I have heard this. There was an article on this subject in The Irish Timesby John McManus on 9 March 2016. I do not know whether anyone present read it but they should do so. It refers to an au pair from Italy who was dizzy and baked cakes all the time. It is stated the family had to repair damage to the table, costing "a multiple of what we were paying her". This says it all about the patronising attitude of these wealthy people to employing other people. They were giving out that the au pair was talking to her boyfriend on Skype in her bedroom. What she does in her bedroom is her own business. It is as if one owns the au pair lock, stock and barrel. Let us end this abuse of people. The individuals are not live-in slaves. People should have rights. These rights should be set down and people should be respected for what they do.

In a recent case in March, a Spanish au pair, so-called, won an award of almost €10,000 and was supported by Migrant Rights Centre Ireland. It was established that such individuals are women workers who are entitled to be treated like workers and to be paid at least the minimum wage. However, that is not what occurs.

Before coming to the Chamber, I spoke to an au pair who works 35 hours per week for €110, which equates to €2.50 per hour, and must pay for food at weekends because the family does not provide any. It is not always the case, therefore, that au pairs receive bed and board.

I live in a constituency with a large number of young families and probably the youngest population in the country. Child care is a major issue for my constituents and if the Fianna Fáil Party had proposed a Bill on child care, I would have said "fair play" and sought to amend it, where necessary. Instead, the party introduced legislation that will not do anything for child care workers and will only benefit people who want to exploit them.

The Bill sets out a list of duties for au pairs. I do not know if au pairs would have any energy after completing 30 hours of domestic work, chores and childminding. People seem to believe childminding is easy but those who mind children know that is not the case. We must stop treating everything women do as second class. The prescribed duties amount to labour and, as such, au pairs are entitled to be treated the same way as any other worker is treated. They should also earn a hell of a lot more than the minimum wage.

Unfortunately, international experience has shown accreditation is mainly bogus. Despite this, I am willing to engage in a discussion on accreditation. Our amendment calls on the Fianna Fáil Party not to proceed with the Bill at this point because it could jeopardise a number of cases due to come before the Workplace Relations Commission.

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