Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

It was James Connolly who described the socialist movement as the great anti-theft movement. He was obviously talking about the capitalist system of wage slavery and the profits of the bosses being made through the exploitation of and robbery from workers. He did not quite have this in mind, which is taking it to an even greater extreme, whereby one sees what is literally the theft of what should be part of workers' wages; it is an element of wage theft by unscrupulous employers. It is obviously part of a very large imbalance of power between employers and workers and finds prevalence in conditions of precarity. It is also part of what is increasingly a two-tier economy in which, despite the fact that formal figures show that the economy is moving ahead, from which some better-off sections are benefiting, we see the prevalence of and massive expansion of low pay and precarious conditions, part of which is the theft of people's wages, including their tips.

I pay tribute to the workers in The Ivy and elsewhere who have spoken out about this and put their necks on the line to expose the reality to the many customers who think that when they leave a tip, it goes to the workers for whom it is intended. I listened to an interview with a worker who said the theft of tips by employers had been found in six of the seven restaurants in which she had worked; obviously, therefore, the phenomenon is widespread. It is a testament to those workers who are speaking out and points to the need for this legislation and the organisation of unions in the workplace as the way to defeat unscrupulous employers on this and a range of other issues and win benefits. Workers in precarious employment, including in the hospitality sector, can be organised. If we look at what is happening in the North, we can see that this is the case in the establishment of the Unite hospitality branch. It has shown how it can be done in a number of employments. Workers are being organised in the South, which is crucial.

I listened to the Government express its opposition to the Bill and thought its arguments against it were very hollow. They involve the idea that this issue is very complicated and that the Bill will not deal with it. It deals with it in a very simple and clear way by stating the tip given is the property of the worker to whom it is given. That seems to be the simplest way of dealing with it.

I wish to make a broader point. I have had it with the Government and money messages. It is scandalous. It is time for the Opposition to call a halt to this practice by the Government. We have the power to call a halt to it and need to do it now. The Government can make its arguments against the Bill and argue why it does not think it is great, which is fine. I have no problem with that, but if a majority in the Dáil pass it on Thursday, in the way it has been passed by the Seanad, the Government should not find another way to block it. It is scandalous and makes a joke of democracy. The people elect Deputies to the Dáil to make decisions on a majority basis, but the Government is now reserving to itself the power to ignore the will of the Dáil. The Minister just threw it out based on Standing Orders 178 and 179; she was going to suggest a money message was needed for the Bill. It is not her role under Standing Orders to suggest a money message is or is not needed for a Bill, but that is the prerogative the Government has taken for itself. It is meant to be objective. As Deputy Gino Kenny and others said, progressive Bill after progressive Bill has been halted by the Government after it has lost a vote. Examples include the Control of Economic Activity (Occupied Territories) Bill, the Prohibition of Fossil Fuels (Keep it in the Ground) Bill, the Provision of Objective Sex Education Bill and now this one. In a good article written by Dr. Eoin Daly and Dr. David Kenny in The Irish Timeslast week the point was made that this was a cause for great concern and had the makings of a democratic and constitutional crisis. It wss stated "dozens of Bills that have been approved in principle by the Dáil are blocked because the Government has refused to issue money messages". It went on to state:

The interpretation of the Constitution and standing orders adopted by the Ceann Comhairle and the Government runs against the idea of democracy by majority vote and the spirit and purpose of the Constitution. A minority government should not have a general power to override legislation passed by a democratic parliament, and yet that is what has come to pass.

It has come to pass time and again. I suggest to everyone in the Opposition - ultimately, it is Fianna Fáil that will decide whether we should bring this situation to an end - that we end it by amending Standing Orders to bring them into line with the Constitution. We should get rid of the reference to incidental expenses and stop this nonsense whereby Bills that have nothing to do with the expenditure of money by the State are stopped because that is not the purpose of the provision in the Constitution. It was not what was intended and it is being abused repeatedly to stop the democratic will of the Dáil from being implemented. It is time to call a halt to it.

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