John Brady (Wicklow, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move: "That the Bill be now read a Second Time."

I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this important legislation, following its passage in the Seanad last week. I commend my colleague, Senator Gavan, on his hard work and sheer determination to progress the Bill through the Seanad. I also commend the trade union movement, through the Irish Congress of Trade Union, ICTU, and SIPTU, as well as the OneGalway and OneCork movements, which have worked hard to ensure the passage of the Bill in support of workers who need to see it made law. I welcome the representatives of the organisations who are watching the debate in the Visitors Gallery.

The Bill has no hidden meaning. It has two basic aims, namely, to give workers a legal right to the tips they earn and to mandate companies to display their tips policy to ensure transparency for customers. Nothing in the Bill will punish or affect in any way good employers. In fact, they must welcome the Bill. Those who will not do so are bad employers who steal their employees' tips, to supplement the till on a slow night or to keep them for themselves. They are who will be affected by the Bill, which we should all welcome.

Last week, Adrian Cummins of the Restaurants Association of Ireland said that in 2010, the Revenue Commissioners estimated that tips constituted 10% of restaurants' turnover. It is clear why the industry is opposed to the Bill. If the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection is taking their side because she feels they are owed something because of the increase in the VAT rate for the hospitality sector from 9% to 13.5%, it is clear she is on the wrong side of the issue. The Bill is for workers who are employed in a precarious and low-paid sector. Many rely on the working family payment to supplement their low pay. They are the very workers who constitute the more than 100,000 people who work and yet live in poverty. They are the workers who get up early in the morning and go to bed late at night. We must ask ourselves why so many workers in the sector are forced to rely on tips to get by. They are living on the minimum wage or less but the money they should receive in tips as a reward for their hard work, to top up their wage and make life a little easier, is being withheld from them.

I am sure the Minister will outline all the reasons the Government will not support the Bill but they are just excuses. They make no sense and do not stand up to scrutiny. The Bill has nothing to do with taxation. It will have no impact on the current practice of giving tips or on taxation. Revenue is clear that where tips are received directly from patrons, there is no obligation on the employer to operate PAYE, the universal social charge, USC, or PRSI on the amounts received. Where tips are paid by card, the employer must operate PAYE, USC and PRSI on the tips received. Employees are obliged to declare cash tips to Revenue. All such practices will remain the same and will not be interfered with following the passing of the Bill. It will be a shame if the Minister goes down the road of using taxation as an excuse for not supporting the Bill, as she did in the Seanad last week, given that no such taxation alterations are included therein. The Minister's newfound desire to take action on employee tips, in bringing forward her own legislation, as she did previously with the banded hours Bill, following Sinn Féin's lead on workers' rights issues, is welcome but her proposal will not tackle the core issue. Her proposal to make it illegal for tips to make up a person's contractual wage is fine but it does not deal with the issue. Instead, she is telling employers they cannot use tips to make up the wage but that they can pocket them.

The Minister has a simple question to answer. Does she believe that workers are entitled to their tips or not? It is a simple "Yes" or "No" question. She has an opportunity to put aside politics and work together, including with the trade unions and their representatives who are present, to make life a little better for the most hard-pressed workers in the State.

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