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

I acknowledge at the outset that tip theft is a problem. It is real, and we would not be introducing this legislation if it was not. We do not have reliable data as to how common it is or if it is more common in the case of electronic tips or cash tips but we think it is more likely to be common in the case of electronic tips because they go through the books, if you like, of the employer and proprietor who controls the money. When a tip is in cash, it is controlled by the staff most of the time and never goes through the company books. Tips are divided among the staff, and it is left to them to decide whether or not to declare tips as additional income.

The amendments being proposed would extend the provisions of the Bill relating to tips and gratuities to payments made in cash as well as by electronic means. Deputies are keen to extend the Bill in full to cover all cash tips and gratuities, and I have sympathy with that proposal. There is a general prohibition on making deductions from an employee's tips but the full regime governing electronic tips cannot be extended to cover cash. The reason for that is simple, that is, cash left voluntarily is not traceable. It may never even come under the control of the employer, as I said earlier, so there is no evidence on which to base enforcement actions. Electronic payments, however, create an evidential trail that can be examined if there is a complaint. We should recognise that most payments are now being made electronically and that fewer people are using cash on a regular basis. We make a considerable proportion of our purchases, including in-person purchases, through electronic transactions by means of debit or credit cards, e-wallets and so on.

Enacting this Bill can also give consumers the confidence to tip electronically, knowing that if they do so, it will definitely go to the staff. When they add an electronic tip, they will know that it is required to be distributed to staff and that those staff have access to the WRC if they have a complaint. I assure the House that in a case where a customer pays a bill that includes a mandatory service charge, the bill and receipt leave an evidential trail whether the payment is made electronically or in cash. This means that if there is a complaint about the distribution of the mandatory service charge, the WRC can consider that complaint and adjudicate on it.

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