Martin Browne (Tipperary, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I also welcome our return to Leinster House. I welcome the opportunity to speak on this matter and also on the importance of ensuring workers’ rights are upheld and how the WRC plays a key role in this regard. It is for these reasons I am pleased to see this legislation being brought forward, following the Zalewski case and the matters it shone a light on. These are important observations for the proper functioning of the WRC in its highly important role. Sinn Féin will be supporting this Bill, although an Teachta O’Reilly has tabled some amendments to it she published on the matter in April.

It will of course be appreciated that when it comes to the protections afforded to workers and the effective functioning of the WRC, nothing can be left to chance. This is exemplified by the work that has been done by the WRC only recently. Despite recent restrictions, the WRC has been as committed as ever in working for the interests of this country’s workers. In total, 7,687 inspections were carried out in 2020. In my county of Tipperary, the WRC detected 190 breaches last year, of which 140 were in the food service and wholesale and retail sectors. This is concerning and indicates how certain businesses are spoiling it for others in their sector by engaging in what are also anti-competitive practices. The most common offence involved working time records for which there were 44 detections, terms of employment were at 27 detections, public holidays at 23 and no Sunday compensation at 17. In each case, the WRC is serving our employees well.

The work of the WRC also improves the business landscape by improving competitiveness while protecting our workers. The WRC has a difficult job. We have been told that the number of breaches of employment law detected nationally since 2015 has amounted to 35.9% of all cases investigated. However, there is one sector whose record is worse than most. Unsurprisingly, it is the country’s meat factories.

I am sick and tired of pointing out how these factories are handled with kid gloves by successive Governments. That employment law breaches were identified in 48% of all inspections in meat factories between 2015 and 2020 reinforces my concerns, which I will not stop highlighting until the matter is addressed. These are worrying figures, but they show the level of commitment of the staff of the WRC to their work and the welfare of the workers that keep this economy going. They also highlight the need for workers to have the legal right to engage in collective bargaining through their trade unions. While the identification of breaches of employment law can go some way towards protecting our workers, enabling workers to exercise their rights is where the power truly is. In truth, more breaches may have been detected if the WRC had the level of staffing it needs. The Minister of State, Deputy English, informed the House in March that the Workplace Relations Commission has only 53 labour inspectors and that its authorised staffing complement is 90, which authorisation was given as far back as 2006. I ask the Minister of State to outline when the additional inspectors will be provided.

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