Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

First, the current position is that if one accepts tips one is supposed to pay tax on them to the Revenue Commissioners. This Bill does not change that, so the Taoiseach is throwing a red herring into this.

Second, we held a press conference today at which Julia, one of workers from The Ivy who is no longer working there, made an appeal to the Minister to support this Bill. The Bill deals with both tips and service charges. We know that when the Tánaiste previously made the point that tips cannot be used as part of a contracted wage The Ivy changed its policy in this regard. It changed its policy from credit card tips to a service charge of 12.5% on all tables, which was previously only on tables of five and above. It is using those service charges to pay wages. That is wrong. No customer who pays a service charge thinks it is going to line the pockets of the management. He or she thinks it will go to the server who served the customer well.

These are the crucial points that must be raised. It is not good enough that tips and the service charge be treated in the same way. Workers should receive their tips directly, not through the management.

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