Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Taoiseach for joining me in congratulating those workers. As he said, it was a very high bar, and there is no other case we know of in Ireland in which an unfair dismissal dispute over trade union activity has been won. The unfair dismissals legislation should be amended to give all workers protection from unfair dismissal from day one of their employment, not just after 12 months, which is much too long. We must also deal with the issue whereby there is no penalty under the Act for employers that are found to have unfairly dismissed a worker. There is also the issue of trade union recognition, which the Taoiseach mentioned, and the right of a union to access the premises of its members, another crucial issue that has to be addressed.

The Payment of Wages (Amendment) (Tips and Gratuities) Bill 2022 is going through Committee Stage at the moment. It partly addresses the issue of employers robbing employees of tips but it must deal with the issue of service charges, which have to go. The Ivy restaurant still applies a 12.5% service charge to all tables. It is used to pay wages and to supplement business income. An owner-manager of a bar-restaurant in Connemara says service charges should be abolished and I concur. Does the Taoiseach agree?

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