David Cullinane (Waterford, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

When I moved the Bill, I noted that I was not perfect. It might be a surprise to the Ceann Comhairle that I have imperfections. I also acknowledged that the Bill was not perfect. Any Bill sponsored by an Opposition party, which does not have the team of civil servants Ministers enjoy, will have flaws. Not only did Fine Gael disagree with the Bill, however, it lambasted it and my party for bringing it forward. Others supported it, however, and it went to the joint committee for scrutiny. The Minister of State is whistling a different tune today, but at the time it was first moved, he and some of his ministerial colleagues were strident in their criticisms of me personally and my party for bringing forward a Bill which attempted to address a real problem. That is why I thank the committee members for their work. Over six sessions, they spent 13 hours hearing from 45 witnesses and preparing 23 recommendations. I support every single recommendation because they strengthen the Bill. There are some recommendations with which I do not necessarily agree, however. Deputy Mary Butler referred to the look-back period which the joint committee recommends should be 12 months. The Minister of State says it should be 18 months and I say it should be nine. We consulted with the trade unions representing low-paid workers who are on if-and-when contracts and they have told us that 18 months is far too long. They believe 12 months is too long also, but they can live with it. I could live with it too if it meant progressing the legislation.

What the Minister of State has done, of course, having lambasted Sinn Féin for bringing forward a Bill to deal with a real issue, is to play catch up and bring forward a Bill of his own. Far from his Bill being more practical and balanced, as he puts it, it is in fact much more limited in scope and intent than the Sinn Féin Bill and the recommendations of the committee. His Bill is balanced not in favour of workers but in favour of employers. In fact, IBEC could have written the Minister of State's entire speech today given how many of the criticisms in it were similar to those I heard at the joint committee when IBEC was before it. The Minister of State said the Sinn Féin Bill would remain limited in its response to regulating precarious work even if all of the proposed recommendations were incorporated. That is an issue where we agree. Of course, it is limited in regulating precarious work because there is a great deal more that we need to do in this area. The Bill was intended to deal with a single specific problem. We have never pretended it was a panacea for all of the problems relating to precarious work. The Bill is intended to ensure that employees have contracts which reflect the hours they work. That is its simple and core purpose. I am pleased the Government now agrees, at least in principle, that this needs to be done.

The Minister of State said his Bill was more comprehensive and balanced. Can he spell out to me how it is more comprehensive? What additional provisions does it bring to the table? What does it do that the Sinn Féin Bill and the recommendations proposed by the joint committee do not? All it does is broaden the look-back period and provide for bigger bands rather than the tighter ones we sought. In fact, it does not solve the problem at all. In launching all of this with great fanfare, the Minister of State said the Government's Bill would ban zero-hour contracts. This is part of the pretence we get from this Government. It is a bit like what is happening in housing currently where it pretends it is doing something it is not.

First, its Bill does not ban zero-hour contracts and the Minister has already acknowledged that there are certain exemptions. Second, the University of Limerick study acknowledged that the issue was not zero-hour contracts and it did not look to ban them. In fact, it is if-and-when and low-hour contracts which need to be regulated.

The Minister lauded the University of Limerick report on a number of occasions but he does not seem to know that the Sinn Féin Bill took many of the recommendations from that report. He cannot, on the one hand, attack Sinn Féin for a fatally flawed Bill and, on the other, commend the authors of a report that made the same recommendations. It was the report that recommended the six-month look-back period, not Sinn Féin. We accepted what was in the report, which the Government actually commissioned.

The Government Bill does not solve the problem at all. It is going to pretend that it bans zero-hour contracts but it does not. The bands are going to be too broad, which means it will not have any significant impact on those who are victims of this. The Minister rightly identified the problem and he and the Government are very good at this. They will tell us what the problem is and then what the solution is but it is not a solution at all. One problem was the low hours which workers were on and many have worked for 30 or 40 hours per week for up to 20 years but they remain on 15-hour contracts, which means when they go for a mortgage or a credit union loan and are asked for evidence of their contract, they cannot get the loan or mortgage. The Government identified that problem but the bands in its Bill are too broad and will not solve the problem. I met with representatives of the Mandate trade union, which represents the vast majority of these workers, and they do not believe the Government Bill will do the job. John Douglas from Mandate said on "Morning Ireland" that the Government Bill does not do what it says on the tin. He could not have put it any better. It is obvious the Government is not really interested in addressing this problem.

I acknowledge that the Government has come some way from being viciously opposed to the concept of the Bill when I and my party first moved it last year, to acknowledging that something has to be done. The Minister gave my Bill an "F" at the time but the Government's Bill would not even register an "NG" as it will not solve the problem at all.

I commend Teachta Clare Daly for her support and she pushed the Business Committee to allow the report to be debated. I commend Teachta Niall Collins for the support he has given in the committee, Teachta Quinlivan, and Teachta Joan Collins for her support, as well as my Sinn Féin colleagues. There are people in this House who want this issue resolved and they put a lot of work into this. Notwithstanding Fine Gael's view or that of the Government, we will have a Bill and an opportunity to amend it. We will put forward amendments and will take many of the recommendations in the Oireachtas Joint Committee report to try to make the Government Bill somewhat presentable, somewhat logical and somewhat practical so that it can go some way to deal with the problems. However, we have to wait until there is a Sinn Féin Government and a Sinn Féin Minister sitting where the Minister is sitting before there will be any justice for workers on low and if-and-when contracts. They most certainly will not get it from a Fine Gael Minister.

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