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

I have been dealing with the case of Marianne Byrne, a worker at the Cobh Heritage Centre in Cork. Marianne is a low-paid worker who has given 26 years of dedicated service. She was offered a 50 cent per hour increase by her employer after 16 years without a pay increase. Colleagues in a similar position were given raises of €1.50 an hour. Cobh Heritage Centre justified this paltry offer by saying Marianne had received a €2 pay increase 15 years ago. You could not make this up. Marianne was represented by Unite the Union at the Workplace Relations Commission and won a recommendation for an 85 cent raise to match the living wage. The board of management of the Cobh Heritage Centre, which relies on public finance and support, has been refusing to implement the recommendation since 8 May this year.

It is a blatant and disrespectful disregard by the board of the Cobh Heritage Centre. It did not even plead inability to pay at the hearing of the case and it gave the case to The HR Suite, a private company, to represent it at the Workplace Relations Commission. This is simply not good enough. Marianne's Unite the Union representative, Eoin Drummey, has written to the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, and to the Tánaiste on her behalf stating that this refusal not only perpetuates the mistreatment of a long-standing female employee on low pay but also undermines the authority of the WRC and the principles of fair and just employment practices which it upholds. It is unacceptable that a State-sponsored and supported entity should fail to rectify a situation that has caused significant hardship for Ms Byrne over several years. There has been no reply or even acknowledgement from either the Minister or the Tánaiste.

It cannot be accepted that a service which relies on State funding undermines the WRC and refuses to pass on an 85 cent pay rise recommendation for a long-standing worker. I have made other representations on other occasions on behalf of Unite the Union and other unions for low-paid workers, particularly in relation to workers in voluntary and State-funded organisations. Ireland has one of the highest incidence of low pay in the EU. Not enough is being done for these workers. The very least the Government can do is to ensure that State-funded organisations are passing on WRC adjudications. Cobh Heritage Centre relies on State funding but is refusing to pass on a WRC recommendation and justifies this by reference to a pay increase 15 years ago and has ultimately failed to pay its workers a living wage. What can the Minister and the Government do to step in here? He can ensure that Marianne gets the pay rise she deserves and can ensure that the WRC is not being undermined by an organisation funded and supported by the State.

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