Neale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for her kind welcome. Consistency is not a bad thing in life.

From the outset, I can confirm that I have read Mandate's report, Smoke and Mirrors: The Facts About Retail Workers' Incomes in Ireland. Indeed, Mandate raised it with me directly when I met them a week prior to its publication. We had a discussion then and we have had subsequent discussions via email and telephone before and after the launch. I look forward to continuing to work closely with them on this report and other issues relating to the retail sector and its employees in the coming weeks.

I know this is an area of particular interest to the Deputy. She has much professional experience in this, as well as legislative experience, and we are more than willing to take this experience on board. At the end of the day, we all want to see the retail sectors thrive and the workers happy with their hours, pay and conditions.

The Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 came into force on 4 March 2019, with the purpose of strengthening employee rights and addressing the problems caused by an increased casualisation of work. Among other measures, zero-hour contracts were banned and a banded hours system was introduced, where workers can request to be placed in a contract that better reflects their working hours. It is important to note in light of the Mandate report the current legislation does not prohibit increases in the number of hours an employee can work. If they are working increased hours, employees may request to be placed on a higher band.

In addition to the 2018 Act, the Deputy will be aware Ireland also has in place a code of practice on access to part-time work. The code was drawn up by the then Labour Relations Commission pursuant to the 2001 Act. Among other provisions, the code of practice sets out that, as far as possible, employers should give consideration to a request by workers to transfer from part-time to full-time work or to increase their working time should the opportunity arise.

I also assure Deputy O'Reilly that my Department closely monitors national and international developments and relevant case law from the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, the Labour Court and the High Court. On that basis, I have written to the WRC requesting that it reviews both the code of practice on part-time work and the Employment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2018 to assess the overall effectiveness of the suite of protections for part-time workers. It is timely that a comprehensive review of both the code and the Act of 2018 is carried out now.

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