Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

I hear what the Tánaiste is saying and I do not dispute it. It is overwhelmingly likely that the majority of tip theft occurs on electronic payments. It is much easier for that to happen. The vast majority of bills these days are probably paid by cards rather than cash. However, the theft of cash tips definitely still happens, and the Tánaiste has acknowledged that. He suggested that we cannot legislate for it because it would be difficult to prove and I do not fully understand the logic there. One can definitely think of circumstances in which it would be impossible to prove. In such a case, there might be paper evidence but an offence cannot be proved. It is also feasible to think of circumstances in which it could be proved. A series of employees might be willing to testify that every single night, the employer comes in, goes through the tip jar and takes half of the money in it. That is very conceivable. Surely a right of redress must be provided for those workers who are affected. We can understand that it might be difficult to prove in some circumstances but let us give them the opportunity to go to the WRC and prove their case as opposed to admitting defeat before we start by saying we cannot possibly legislate for those whose tips in cash form are robbed.

See this speech in context