Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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7. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation when the heads of the Bill regarding protections for workers on insecure, low-hour contracts will be published in 2017, in view of the urgent need [30224/17]

Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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51. To ask the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation the timeframe for the publication and enactment of legislation dealing with low-hour contracts and precarious work; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [30475/17]

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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What is the status of legislation to protect workers on insecure and low-hour contracts? Has the Tánaiste had the opportunity to read her way into the brief? It is an issue the Joint Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation has invested nearly all its time in to bring the legislation forward. It is an issue which featured very prominently in my party's election manifesto and it was one of the issues we highlighted in the confidence and supply agreement between the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael parties to underpin the minority Government. I impress on the Tánaiste the urgency of the legislation.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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I appreciate the urgency of this. My Department received recently the first draft of the Bill from the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and, subject to Government approval, I envisage the publication of the Bill at an early date once the drafting process is complete. The joint committee has confirmed it does not wish to engage in pre-legislative scrutiny of the draft legislation. As such, the Bill, once published, can come straight to the House in keeping with the urgency to which the Deputy refers. The Government's legislation will ensure employees are better informed about the nature of their employment arrangements and, in particular, their core terms at an early stage of their employment. Employees will not have to wait to get those details. It will strengthen the provisions around minimum payments to low-paid, vulnerable workers who may be called in to work for a period but not provided with that work. That is an issue which has been raised. It will also deal with quite a number of other things.

Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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I appreciate that the Tánaiste sees that the Bill is urgent but she has not provided us with a date. I press her to do so. Is it likely we will see the Bill before the House in the current session at least to kick off its passage through the Oireachtas? In the work of the joint committee, pretty much everyone has been on the same page, which is important. It is legislation which will impact on the most vulnerable people in the employment landscape. The fact we have been waiting so long impresses on us all the urgency of the Bill. I would not like to see the opportunity being lost. We all know how precarious the current Dáil is. That is the result that was handed to us by the public. There is so much expectation on the Bill that I impress the point on the Tánaiste again and ask her if she has a date in mind.

Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael)
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It is clear that good progress has been made. This was only referred to the Office of the Attorney General on 4 May, but there has already been a first draft from the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel. While I cannot provide the Deputy with a precise date, all the indications are that the Bill will be published at an early date once the drafting process is finalised. I appreciate the points the Deputy makes and the points which were made at the joint committee. It is important to move to ensure workers on low-hour contracts who consistently work more hours each week than are provided for in their contracts of employment are entitled to be placed in a band of hours which reflects the reality of the hours they have worked over an extended period. There are also other aspects of the Bill. I will discuss it further with my officials to see if I can get a clear indication. Given that a first draft has been provided, it may be in the House early in the next term, depending on the complexity and responses of my Department.