Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is not up to Fáilte Ireland to solve this problem. I asked what the Minister of State's opinion was on the Government increasing the minimum wage to a living wage for workers in the sector. Retention is equally as much a problem along with recruitment. According, again, to Fáilte Ireland's research, one in three workers in the sector was new to tourism and hospitality, and 42% of workers in the sector who are on the PUP did not return to their employers. Does the Minister of State think there is a case where employers improved pay conditions that they might be able to manage and to improve retention levels? Everyone in the sector understands that there are unsociable hours, but when you have people working very long hours, when they are sometimes denied breaks and having to work split shifts on a wage on which they just cannot afford to live, bearing in mind there is a cost-of-living crisis and a rental crisis and people simply cannot afford to work. Also, the sector is very vulnerable because the trade unions are not organised in the sector. Given that he has not answered the question about his Government's opinion on increasing the minimum wage to a living wage, what is his opinion on the role of employers in improving conditions to retain staff in the sector?

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