Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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3. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation his plans to introduce legislation to ensure part-time workers have a legal right to seek or avail of extra hours; if he discussed this matter with the Department of Social Protection prior to the introduction of recent changes to the one-parent family payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [28705/15]

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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This question relates to the Minister's plans to introduce legislation to give part-time workers the legal right to seek extra hours. The background is obviously the Dunnes Stores strike, the abuse of 15-hour contracts by that employer, the explosion of zero-hour contracts and, in particular, the Government's decision to reduce the lone parent's allowance citing circumstances whereby lone parents could seek extra hours at work. Obviously, however, they cannot do that in the absence of any legal entitlement. What discussions has the Minister had with the Minister for Social Protection in this regard?

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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I discuss these matters with the Tánaiste all the time. Irish employment rights legislation contains strong safeguards for part-time workers. The Protection of Employees (Part-Time Work) Act 2001, which is the main legislation governing the employment rights of part-time workers, implemented EU Council Directive 97/81/EC into Irish law. The purpose of the directive was to implement the framework agreement on part-time work concluded by the European social partners.

In general terms, the 2001 Act provides that a part-time employee shall not be treated in a less favourable manner in respect of his or her conditions of employment than a full-time employee and that all employee protection legislation applies to a part-time employee in the same manner as it already applies to a full-time employee. The Act further provides that a benefit which is determined by the number of hours an employee works shall be applied on a pro rataor proportionate basis to part-time employees.

The Labour Relations Commission has prepared a code of practice on access to part-time working, pursuant to section 13(5) of the 2001 Act, in consultation with the social partners. The code of practice was drawn up in the context of clause 5.3 of the framework agreement which provides that, as far as possible, an employer should give consideration to a request by workers to transfer from full-time work to part-time and from part-time work to full-time work. Under section 42(4) of the Industrial Relations Act 1990, the code of practice is admissible in evidence in any proceedings before a court, the Labour Court, the Labour Relations Commission, the Employment Appeals Tribunal or the Equality Tribunal. In general terms, the Protection of Employees (Fixed-Term Work) Act 2003, which provides that fixed-term employees may not be treated less favourably than comparable permanent employees, is also relevant. This Act establishes a framework to prevent abuses arising from the use of successive fixed-term employment contracts. In addition, the Unfair Dismissals Act 1977, as amended, contains a provision aimed at ensuring successive temporary contracts are not used to avoid that legislation. I have no plans at this time to amend these provisions. A strong suite of legislative protections is in place for part-time workers.

My colleague, the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection, has responsibility for the one-parent family payment scheme. The purpose of the phased age change reforms under that scheme, as introduced in the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2012, is to reduce long-term social welfare dependency by ending the expectation that lone parents will remain outside the workforce indefinitely. The aim of the reforms in question is to provide the necessary supports to lone parents to help them to access the range of education, training and employment programmes provided by the Department of Social Protection to develop their skill sets and, ultimately, to secure employment and financial independence.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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The Minister of State has claimed that "a strong suite of legislative protections is in place for part-time workers", but he has not addressed my point that there are no protections in the area to which my question refers. Workers who are on casual contracts - in the case of Dunnes Stores, workers were on 15 hour contracts - are aware that hours are used as a method of control by management. When Mandate conducted a survey of 1,400 Dunnes Stores workers, it discovered that 85% of them were of the view that if they spoke up or tried to do anything, their hours would be spread over five days and consequently they would not be able to avail of family income supplement etc. Ireland's rate of underemployment, which is the second-highest in the EU, has increased from 0.8% in 2008 to 7% at present. The Minister of State's colleague, the Tánaiste, told lone parents that reductions of between €36 and €86 in the weekly incomes of the most vulnerable families in our society could be offset if they went to their employers to seek extra hours. The reality is that in the absence of legislation that would force employers to give lone parents extra hours when such hours are available, the Tánaiste's comments are utterly meaningless and the cuts she has imposed will continue to butcher the living standards of lone parents. The Minister of State might want to comment on the unanimous vote at last week's Irish Congress of Trade Unions conference in favour of a motion along the lines of the point I am making, which is that if the Government is really serious about the conditions of lone parents, it will introduce this necessary legislation.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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The overarching point here is really about making work pay, ensuring people can access working hours that work for them and helping people to be financially independent. It is about much more than getting a weekly or monthly pay cheque; it is about the dignity of work and dignity at work and it is about making a contribution to society. The overarching principle informing the reforms that have been introduced by the Tánaiste is the need to ensure people are enabled to work for as long as they can and get as many hours as they can to provide for themselves and their families. It is a question of incentivising workers and ensuring work always pays. This is one of the overarching principles informing the establishment of the Low Pay Commission, which is an important institutional change aimed at tackling low pay from every perspective in a sustained and structured way. We do not want to tackle the issue of low pay, which can be a soul-destroying and crushing experience for anybody, in a piecemeal fashion. We need to do it in a structured way. I have gone into some detail about the legislative provisions and the code of practice involved in the area of part-time work. As the Deputy knows, I am working with the University of Limerick to carry out the first comprehensive study of its kind into the extent and prevalence of low-hour contracts in this economy. Those involved in that study will make recommendations to me in the autumn regarding the legislative and regulatory changes that may be required to ensure work pays and the jobs that are created are good, decent and sustainable. I think we are achieving that. The share of casual and part-time workers on the live register has decreased by 9% by comparison with the figures for June 2014. That is just one example.

Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left)
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The Minister of State is studiously avoiding my contention that casual employment is a serious blight on our society. The changes introduced by the Tánaiste, in the absence of affordable child care and of legislation enabling lone parents to seek extra hours, represent the deliberate pauperisation of a section of society. The CSO has revealed that the overwhelming majority of lone parents are either in work or are actively seeking work. Legislation needs to be introduced to enable such people and others, including the Dunnes Stores workers who have gained the sympathy of the nation for the scandalous manner in which they have been abused by their employers and their hours have been used to denigrate them, put them in very precarious situations and - as Mandate has said - exercise control, to access extra hours and have a decent standard of living. I understand that the Government is required by an EU directive to introduce such legislation. Therefore, I am a little surprised that the Government has no plans to make changes in this regard.

Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour)
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Despite the protestations of some people, we fully transposed the part-time workers directive a number of years ago in consultation with the social partners, including the trade unions, which were satisfied to sign off on it. Deputy Daly is studiously avoiding the fact that the economy has been transformed over the last couple of years. We need to be conscious that we have seen a decrease of 40% in part-time underemployment over the last two years. As I said at the conclusion of my previous remarks, the share of casual and part-time workers on the live register has decreased by almost 10% since June 2014. That is the equivalent of over 7,000 workers. There was a proliferation of part-time jobs in recent years, but all the evidence suggests that when the economy started to recover, many of those jobs migrated into full-time positions. I think we should all welcome that as an illustration of the strength of the economy and the acceleration of the economic recovery. Ultimately, my party and I are interested in providing decent and sustainable jobs for people in this economy because that is the right route out of poverty.