Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy John Curran. I am glad to be able to discuss the next stage in the process of drafting workable legislation that will impact many vulnerable workers. I reiterate my party's absolute commitment to our tradition of protecting workers and their rights. It has always been at the forefront of our policy, whether in Government or in Opposition, and our track record will stand up to any scrutiny of that. We had precarious employment, banded hour contracts, if-and-when and zero-hour contracts in our election manifesto because we meet people every day who are negatively impacted by these things. In the confidence and supply agreement which this party has with the Minister's party for a minority Government, this is one of the key priorities.

Over the past 16 months there has been progressive and fruitful work in the Oireachtas. This Dáil often gets criticised for being a do-nothing Dáil but with the legislation offered by Deputy Cullinane and the parallel legislation from the Government, as well as the work done by our committee, chaired by Deputy Mary Butler, we have arrived at a situation where it is time to deliver. We do not mind whether we process the Sinn Féin Bill or amend the Government Bill in order to reach the aims we all have but it is time to bring it forward. The Minister did not say when he would bring the Government Bill forward but it is needed because too many people are being negatively impacted by this situation. It does not just affect the private sector, those in hospitality and retail; it also affects many in the public sector and the Government, for example across the HSE and the education sectors. It is not good enough for people to be coming to me every week, at my office or in the satellite clinics around my constituency, to tell me of the issues they have with regard to the uncertainty of their employment, all because we have not dealt with it.

There are some major differences between us. First is banding and we need to amend the Government Bill in respect of bands. There have to be more so that we capture a greater number of people. The proposed 18-month reference period does not make sense. The normal business cycle, whether for private employers or the State, is 12 months and accounts and budgets are normally for 12 months. I do not know how the Government came up with an 18-month period, which will simply not be workable.

We have done our job and the Minister needs to take that message away. I thank all the people who presented at the Oireachtas Joint Committee to give of their time, knowledge and experience in order to inform us. We will take Deputy Cullinane's Bill, with our set of proposals to improve it, or we will take the Government Bill to improve it to meet the same aims. It is high time to deliver on this. I thank the academics in the University of Limerick who, with their study, triggered this debate and helped to inform it. I also acknowledge the input of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions on behalf of the many vulnerable and exploited workers who have felt the effects of the situation as it stands. It is high time that we dealt with it and we need to move on it as soon as possible.

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