Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The first defeat of the Government was on the Labour Party motion that called for a legislative package to combat, in particular, if-and-when contracts and bogus self-employment and that sought their regulation. I am glad that the Minister is progressing this legislation. My colleague, Senator Gerald Nash, initiated the University of Limerick study of this matter. With regard to zero-hours contracts, I put the Minister on notice. There is no one better at manipulating legislation that those to whom I refer. I want to send a message to the bureaucrats. The measure will put people within bands to reflect the reality of their working hours. Some might be guaranteed 15 or 20 hours and might be getting 30 hours. The Minister will be introducing in the legislation a number of bands between 20 and 30 hours. Many workers and I do not want to see people being placed at the lower end. Cleverly, people are allocated only 20 hours, the lower end of a band between 20 and 30 hours. I put the Minister on notice that there will be holy war if there is sleight of hand to leave people on 20 rather than 30 hours. Those who desire a loan to help the children with their education or to do anything else get nothing if they are bedded down at the minimum figure. If there is to be a spectrum, let us put them at the top rather than the lower end. With regard to employers, there could be a flanker. I have no doubt that there is somebody who is already fighting for inclusion at the lower end. I am signalling that we want people to be put at the upper end when the bands become available.

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