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

I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection, Deputy Regina Doherty, plans to legislate in this area. When customers leave a tip in a restaurant or bar they intend that the tip should go to the staff. We want to ensure that happens. The Minister, Deputy Doherty, will introduce legislation to amend the Payment of Wages Act to make it illegal for employers to use tips to make up employees' wages. Tips would have to be in addition to the statutory pay or wages people are being paid. In addition, she will introduce legislation to require employers to display, either in a notice on a wall or on a menu, their policies on tips, gratuities and service charges so customers of bars and restaurants know exactly what is happening to the tip, where it is going and, more importantly, what is happening with the service charge. That is the action we will take.

The reason we do not support the Bill being put forward is that we believe it will be counterproductive. While I am sure it was not the intention of the authors, the effect of the Bill would be to cause people's tips to be taxed-----

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