Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for the question, and I am very glad he raised it because it is an important part of the Department now, as the very large mammoth that is the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection. Employment affairs, employee rights, employee engagement, the participation of unions and representation rights will all be very much to the fore of what we will do in the coming months.

5 o’clock

The details of the employment legislation that transferred to my Department following the Government decision earlier this year are set out in the Labour Affairs and Labour Law (Transfer of Departmental Administration and Ministerial Functions) Order 2017, SI 361 of 2017. The transfer of functions involved 11 pieces of primary legislation in the area of labour affairs and labour law that were previously the responsibility of the old Department.

My priority, on which we have already made a little progress in the past week - I have met members of unions and made some fine inroads on what they are looking for in their representations - is to publish the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill which is being drafted. The Deputy is aware that the Bill is in response to a commitment in the programme for Government to tackle the problems caused by the increased casualisation of work and, in particular, to strengthen the regulation pertaining to precarious employment. The proposals contained in the Bill are the result of extensive consultations. They include public consultation by the former Department, the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, following the University of Limerick study of zero-hour and low-hour contracts, in addition to detailed dialogue with ICTU and IBEC for several months. The Bill aims to address a number of issues that have been identified where current employment rights legislation can and must be strengthened to the benefit of employees, particularly low paid and more vulnerable employees, without imposing unnecessarily onerous burdens on employers and businesses. Officials of my Department are working closely with the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. I met the Attorney General last week to raise certain queries arising from the heads of the Bill to determine whether I could enhance them. I am giving a commitment that I will have the Bill published before Christmas. If I were to be really ambitious, I would hope to bring it to the House before Christmas, but it is definitely among my top three priorities.

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