Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Ministers regularly acknowledge the precarious conditions of employment of workers in the retail sector. As the Taoiseach knows, if-and-when contracts, as they are known, are also rife in the journalism, education, health and construction sectors. Workers on contracts of this nature face massive difficulties in getting mortgages, planning their lives and planning their finances on a week-to-week basis. Today, the Mandate trade union has called on all Oireachtas Members to sign up to its Secure Hours - Better Future charter to end zero-hour and if-and-when contracts. I hope that the Taoiseach and his party will sign up to the charter. We are told that the employment (miscellaneous provisions) Bill, which is yet to be published, will resolve these contractual matters. However, there is already a Bill before the House that enjoys cross-party support after dozens of hours of debate, expert witness hearings and amendments recommended by the members of the jobs committee. Why introduce rival legislation? The Dáil will debate the committee's report on the Banded Hours Contracts Bill 2016 on Thursday. Will the Taoiseach and his Ministers support the progression of that Bill and, by so doing, give workers the security they deserve?

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