Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Surrounding the fanfare, there is also the reality of workers’ lives. It is a long way from Clare to the Dublin South-Central constituency. While I do not represent Clare, I have had e-mails from workers in Element Six as I am on the Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. They have informed me that the majority of the workers of this subsidiary of the global company, De Beers, a hugely profitable company which made €1 billion in profit since 2014, are contracted to an agency known as eFlexes. This agency has driven down the pay, terms and conditions of its employees.

This should be a concern of this House and the Minister’s office. Her brief is for jobs, and the quality of jobs matters. On the one hand, it is wonderful we can celebrate the announcement of new jobs in Clare and elsewhere. On the other, we have to take in the human cost to the people who work there. I have spoken to some of the workers in the company. They are jaded and tired. The sorts of shifts they have to work through the night are poorly remunerated. They get little notice of their rotas. This is a very anti-social and anti-family way of conducting employment. It is increasing, however, particularly with multinational companies which we are so grateful to have in this country.

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