Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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6. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation her views on the fact the 100 jobs announced at a company (details supplied) in County Limerick will in fact be subject to much poorer employment conditions than those previously practised at the plant; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6200/17]

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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In January, the announcement of 100 new jobs at Element Six in the Shannon region was accompanied with great fanfare and joy. The Minister of State, Deputy Pat Breen, and Deputy Dooley were at the announcement. While I do not dispute the joy of job creation, is the Minister concerned about the quality of the jobs created and that their terms and conditions are much diminished compared with those which existed already?

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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The news that the company in question has committed to an additional investment and an increase by 100 in its workforce is a welcome development for County Clare and the wider region. It will create new employment opportunities for the people of the area as well as serving as a real endorsement of the Shannon area as an attractive destination for inward investment.

All companies operating in Ireland, including the business in question, are subject to a range of employment related legislation. Employees also have the benefit of various statutory protections and entitlements. This legislative framework provides certainty for all those in the country’s labour market and ensures workers are treated fairly under the law.

Beyond changes to minimum wage rates, the Government cannot specify remuneration levels for new hires in businesses, whether those are supported by our development agencies or otherwise. Private sector employers must retain flexibility to determine the appropriate pay levels in their respective businesses. We need to remember too that multinational companies in Ireland are operating in an increasingly competitive and challenging global marketplace.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Surrounding the fanfare, there is also the reality of workers’ lives. It is a long way from Clare to the Dublin South-Central constituency. While I do not represent Clare, I have had e-mails from workers in Element Six as I am on the Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation. They have informed me that the majority of the workers of this subsidiary of the global company, De Beers, a hugely profitable company which made €1 billion in profit since 2014, are contracted to an agency known as eFlexes. This agency has driven down the pay, terms and conditions of its employees.

This should be a concern of this House and the Minister’s office. Her brief is for jobs, and the quality of jobs matters. On the one hand, it is wonderful we can celebrate the announcement of new jobs in Clare and elsewhere. On the other, we have to take in the human cost to the people who work there. I have spoken to some of the workers in the company. They are jaded and tired. The sorts of shifts they have to work through the night are poorly remunerated. They get little notice of their rotas. This is a very anti-social and anti-family way of conducting employment. It is increasing, however, particularly with multinational companies which we are so grateful to have in this country.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Many of the new jobs in question are senior positions, including supply chain, process and improving engineers who are paid the market rate. They are not paid below the market rate. In 2009, the company in question had to restructure and it nearly closed down.

However, as I said, the 100 jobs that were announced in the recent past are very well-paid and senior positions. While many of the employees are on contracts, many have also been working there for some time and are long-term employees of the company. The new jobs have the same starting terms and conditions as existing jobs although those who have long service with the company are paid more.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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While I do not work there, I want to refute what the Minister has just said. Approximately 300 of the 500 employees work under the auspices of an agency called eFlexes. I have to hand copies of the contracts stating that eFlexes reserves the right to change a person's working hours at any time, provided the person is told about this and the company hears the person's reasonable objections. I have evidence that people who have objected to being told at the last minute that they must work for the next 15 hours have been threatened with the loss of their contracts. There is also an interesting procedure in the disciplinary section which I have never seen before in any contract of employment. It sets out that a person who is subject to a serious investigation of ill discipline may be suspended without pay pending the investigation. Garda Commissioner Nóirín O'Sullivan, should she be suspended, will be suspended with pay because that is in the contract of most employees in the country; the opposite is the case with this contract.

I argue that there are serious breaches of the concepts of work and lifestyle decency within these types of new jobs that we are celebrating. It is part of the Minister's brief to examine and watch over what is happening in the employment arena in this country.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Smith. Again, many of the employees in the company to which the Deputy refers are long-term employees. I acknowledge that many are working on a contract basis. The company went down that route in 2009 because the plant was in danger of closing. I am happy that the employees are being paid the market rate.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I did not mention pay. I was speaking about the conditions.

Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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Thank you Minister.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I did not mention pay. I only asked about the conditions of employment.

Mary Mitchell O'Connor (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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Pay and conditions.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Does the Minister have nothing to say about the conditions?