Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

That is the answer. The Bill was published in the first half of December. It supersedes the Bill put forward by Deputy Cullinane. I am keen to have it in the House as soon as the Business Committee can provide time for it. When we deal with the legislation, it is important we do not throw the baby out with the bath water. I refer to when provisions in contracts might make sense. For example, emergency services operate on an if-and-when basis.

It can make sense to have a certain number of core hours and an if-and-when provision on top of that, so people are called in when the work is available. People who work in transport, logistics, shipping and aviation say that the same applies in their areas. The ship comes in when it comes in and it is not always possible to know the exact times when staff are needed. It is important that what we do makes sense. We must protect workers and ensure they have greater certainty about their hours and incomes, but we also must not have a situation where employers are paying staff not to do any work for a prolonged period and then cannot get staff when they need them because of excessively restrictive legislation. This was discussed at Cabinet rather than in the Cabinet sub-committee.

Regarding the housing crisis, there are many reasons for us having such a great challenge with housing in the State. However, the underlying issue is a lack of supply of suitable homes, apartments and houses. There are more people who can afford to buy than are able to buy at present due to the lack of availability. I do not fully agree with the Deputy's analysis in that regard.

I am struck by the number of times today that Deputy Howlin has asserted I said certain things that I did not say. I certainly did not say that wage increases were the largest threat to the economy as that is not my view. It is probably Brexit, but other threats to the economy may arise. I did say something along the lines of unsustainable or excessive wage increases potentially being a threat to the economy. If they are unsustainable they would have to be taken back at a later stage. We should not repeat the mistakes of the past by giving people welfare increases, tax cuts and wage increases only to take them back from them when they most need them a few years later.

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