Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Tánaiste is ignoring the fact that the jobs debate is not simply about quantity, but also quality. It is not just about establishing commissions. We need robust legislation. The Government is allowing us to become a low-pay Ireland. According to the OECD, one in four Irish workers is low paid. According to yesterday's SILC report, there are more than 100,000 working poor. The same report stated that consistent poverty among the children of lone parents, who are disproportionately retail workers, has increased to 26.2%. These figures do not even count those people who are underemployed or the prevalence of short contracts and low, insecure hours.

What action will the Tánaiste take about this? Tesco is one of the few employers in the retail sector that still has thousands of decent jobs in which workers earn enough on which to live, and it has these jobs because workers organised. Research shows that, in the retail sector, those in unions earn approximately 30% more than those who are not. I urge the workers in Tesco to stay strong, stay together and remember that if the company is given the right to impose terms unilaterally on one group today, it will do so to another tomorrow.

This week is the 70th anniversary of the death of Jim Larkin. I will conclude with the slogan: an injury to one is an injury to all. That message should go out to every worker who is fighting those issues.

See this speech in context